THE closure of a stretch of the road from Watchet to Blue Anchor because of fears of a major landslip could be “catastrophic” if it is not re-opened in time for the tourist season, town leaders warned this week.

Somerset County Council shut the B3191 at Cleeve Hill on the outskirts of Watchet last Friday.

The road there runs along the top of a 120-foot cliff, and electronic sensors had detected movement in the rocks and soil of the cliff face.

County highways experts made the decision to close the road to traffic and pedestrians until further notice, cutting off the direct link into Watchet from several large caravan parks and traffic from Old Cleeve and Blue Anchor.

The B3191 is also used to divert traffic when there are accidents or hold-ups on the A39, and bus services have been affected.

As work started this week on investigating the extent of what engineers have called “potential instability” and whether it will be possible to reinstate the road, there were calls to find an alternative route as quickly as possible after fears that the road could be shut for at least a year.

Local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who visited the site last Sunday, said he believed the existing road was now too dangerous to re-open to traffic.

“Engineers are drawing up a full report on the situation and it is clear there is plenty of land to divert the road further away from the cliffs,” he said.

“It is not going to be quick or simple matter and we really need to pull together to get this project under way as soon as possible.”

Watchet’s county councillor Hugh Davies said the closure had already had widespread repercussions and urged that a decision on the state of the road be made within days because of the worry and uncertainty it had caused in the town.

“This road is of major strategic importance to Watchet and losing it could be catastrophic,” Cllr Davies said.

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