Market Drayton landslip repairs will take until January

A landslip which led to temporary traffic lights being installed on a busy Market Drayton road will not be repaired until January 2011 - 12 months after the collapse.

Having suffered delays for a year, motorists will face further misery as Phoenix Bank in Market Drayton will then close for two months for the repair work to be carried out.

Shropshire Council announced today that the existing temporary traffic lights in Phoenix Bank will need to remain in place until early next year when work to repair the adjacent retaining wall is programmed to start.

In January, part of the wall which retains the garden of The Old Grammar School above the A529 in Market Drayton collapsed during heavy snow.

This resulted in traffic lights being installed in Phoenix Bank as rubble was left strewn across the road.

But recent investigation work has revealed that, before the existing rubble can be removed and the wall then repaired, it will be necessary to stabilise the sloping soil bank that now exists behind the collapse.

Laura Owen, communications officer at Shropshire Council, said: "When the road is closed, it is proposed to divert local traffic along Shrewsbury Road, Dalelands Estate and Walkmill Road."