Hour long diversion for south Somerset drivers with 46-mile diversion

Drivers will be forced to drive nearly 50 miles to avoid a 700-metre road closure Credit: Somerset Live

People in South Somerset face driving more than an hour to follow a diversion for a 700-metre road closure .

The short section of A372 at Aller near Langport will be shut for resurfacing work between the junction with Church Path and The Seed Factory.

Somerset County Council say the road will stay closed to drivers between 25 August and 2 September.

The official 46.2 mile diversion route is estimated to take one hour and eight minutes to complete compared to the usual 50 seconds to drive through normally at 30mph.

The 46-mile route will take more than an hour to get around. Credit: Somerset Live/BPM Media

While there are a number of shorter unofficial routes drivers could take instead, the official diversion has become this long because an alternative route must use the same class of road, and therefore needs to be on an A-road.

Unofficial routes are not suitable for HGVs and should be avoided if using larger machinery.