Three months of closures for major A483 between Shropshire and Wales

The A483 between the Mile End roundabout in Oswestry and Llanymynech, will be affected between 9pm and 5am from mid-July through to September for works to be carried out - bringing long diversions for motorists, many of who will be travelling between Shropshire and the wider West Midlands and the Welsh coast.

Highways England today confirmed the planned works were part of a pavement resurfacing scheme.

As well as the planned overnight closures, James Wildman, spokesman for Highways England, confirmed "a couple of" weekend closures would be involved, in order to get the work completed by September.

But concerns have been raised that the works come during the "most important time of year" for the region – the summer tourist season.

Dilys Gaskill, chair of Llanymynech and Pant Parish Council, said: "Roadworks starting in July is probably the worst time of year for this area, it's the main tourist season and I do worry that if visitors do get stuck in traffic, it will put them off coming to this area again, which isn't good.

"I know the bulk of the road closures are during the night time but that still causes problems.

"The weekend closures especially will be a nightmare, particular for tourists and events happening this summer.

"I just hope the closures don't coincide with major events such as the Royal Welsh Show, when the roads are always much busier.

"Those involved in the planning and logistics of roadworks and road closures should also bear in mind what's happening elsewhere, say in Welshpool, and on the A5, where we've seen the works at the Gledrid roundabout causing disruption in the area over recent months."

Mrs Gaskill, a long-time campaigner for a bypass to be built in Pant and Llanymynech, said roadworks and road closures were frequent in the area.

She said: "Only last week we had a road closure in the village, and we have seen a number of roadworks over the years, which surely makes the case stronger for everyone to just bite the bullet and build this bypass.

"It's clear the roads in the village can't cope with the volume of traffic it's getting, so surely it's time they just went ahead with it."

Mrs Gaskill also reiterated a plea by Owen Paterson, who is defending his North Shropshire constituency seat in next month's general election, to send any information they have on the roads to build a case for a bypass.

Mr Wildman, for Highways England, said: "The A483 Llanymynech to Mile End works are a pavement resurfacing scheme starting mid-July, ending September. The scheme mostly involves night time work and some weekends."

Mr Wildman said further details on the closures would be confirmed in the coming weeks.