MOTORISTS have been thanked for their patience after the first day of a major bridge closure in Evesham saw lengthy tailbacks.

Port Street and Mill Street saw the worst of the traffic as the new diversion route was used for the first time on Thursday morning, with Cheltenham Road near the closed Abbey Bridge remaining mostly quiet even during rush hour.

Councillor John Smith OBE, County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and County Councillor for Evesham North West said that changes were made to the traffic lights sequence on Friday morning which resulted in a smoother flow of cars through Evesham.

“I'd like to thank the people of Evesham and motorists travelling on our town's roads for their patience. Highways officers have been on-site monitoring the traffic situation. There were some issues yesterday on Port Street and, because of this, changes were made to the traffic-light signal sequence. As a result traffic moved a lot more freely through the diversion route this morning, which is good news.

"Please continue to support Evesham and its traders during the 10-week closure period. Take advantage of the half-price bus travel offer on all services to and from the town centre and the car-parking discounts of 20p for three hours on short-stay car parks.

“For those thinking of walking or cycling into town don’t forget the temporary pedestrian bridge – 30 metres to the west of Abbey Bridge – is open.”

Meanwhile, temporary traffic lights put in place due to subsidence on Worcester Road, Evesham, discovered the day before the Abbey Bridge closed for 10 weeks, will remain in place into next week.

Coun Smith said: "The emergency lane-closure and temporary traffic lights will remain over the weekend and Monday. A full night closure will be necessary from 8pm Monday until 6am Tuesday to allow engineers to open up the road and investigate below the surface of the highway.

"Thankfully, motorists using the road affected have not been experiencing anything other than very small delays. We appreciate their patience and are doing everything we can to remedy the major subsidence issue as quickly as possible.”