A CITY centre road is set to be closed for nine Sunday mornings from next month to complete window cleaning and gutter clearance works.

Sansome Street will close from its junction with Foregate Street and Sansome Place over an estimated 484 days from May 12, with a maximum duration of 18 months.

The works, announced yesterday by Worcestershire County Council, mean an alternative route via Foregate Street, Pierpoint Street, Sansome Walk, Sansome Place and vice versa will be in place.

Between May 2019 and September 2020, workers will work on nine Sundays between 8am and 11am.

These are: May 12, 2019, July 7, 2019, September 8, 2019, November 3, 2019, January 5, 2020, March 1, 2020, May 10, 2020, July 5, 2020 and September 6, 2020.

There were major delays on nearby Sansome Walk in January due to roadworks, meant to begin on January 7, but which were delayed for a week even though closures had already been put in place.

Gas network Cadent replaced metallic pipes with long-standing plastic ones, meaning similar closures and diversions were in place.

Sansome Walk was closed from the junction with Pierpoint Street to Sansome Place until January 28, before the works moved into Lion Court and Sansome Place until February 18.

Many people vented their frustrations at the works on Facebook during those works, including Rob Jones who called them a “recipe for accidents”.

“After dropping off at Foregate Street this morning, being diverted along Sansome Walk, someone came out of the Arboretum junction straight into my direction,” he said.

On the day the works started, Sansome Place residents Pat and Roger Hughes were adamant they and others had not been warned at all, though Cadent claimed all residents were sent letters.

A member of the county council's street team confirmed this morning (Friday) that a clerical error had been made in the original information sent to us. This had stated the road would be closed for 484 days and did not refer to the Sunday closures.