Plans are in the pipeline to build a temporary road in the Ironbridge Gorge after residents won a battle to see it installed and hundreds of people signed a petition.

Telford & Wrekin Council has submitted plans to realign a road and construct retaining structures on the highway between the Black Swan public house and Crossing Gate, Lloyds Head.

Residents were upset about a temporary road closure at Lloyds Head in Jackfield, as it was the main route for tourists from Ironbridge to Jackfield.

Worried they would lose custom and profits, 300 people signed a petition in a fight for the temporary road to be put in place.

The closure came after land movement near The Black Swan public house damaged the highway at Lloyds Head in April.

Telford & Wrekin Council closed part of the road to vehicles, and it has remained closed since.

A temporary diversion was put in place via Calcutts Road and Ironbridge Road and is expected to be in operation for several months.

Changes will include temporary traffic lights at the junction of Calcutts Road and Ironbridge Road, and temporary diversion signs will be replaced by more permanent ones for the duration of the diversion. Council bosses also plan to put up a barrier at one end of Chapel Road, after residents raised concerns about drivers using it as a short cut.

David Morgan, council spokesman, said: “This is in addition to the rolling programme of stability works being undertaken in the Gorge. We are committed to it and it will be undertaken.

“There is a planning application in for a temporary road at Lloyds Head and if approved work would start here in September or October,” he added.