A ROAD will be closed for one week to stop a verge falling into the river.

Work is starting in Winterborne Stickland on Monday June 14 with the road closed to vehicles, 24 hours-a-day, for one week, while the first 50m of collapsed verge is rebuilt and the road edge reconstructed with a cement-based foundation.

The repairs aim to strengthen the road edge of Water Lane/West Street. The narrow rural road has a historical issue of the verge falling into the river due to the erosion of the bank over time. The verge is further pushed into the river by vehicles using the grassy edge to pass each other.

Dorset Highways is working closely with council ecologists and the Environment Agency on a regular basis to ensure the design of the reconstruction is taking into account the local water vole population.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “Dorset’s natural environment is home to a multitude of wildlife, many of which are protected.

“Not only do we have a great track record of recycling materials back into our surfacing works, we also actively support the natural environment when designing our highway improvement schemes.”