THE main road through Dunster will be closed for nearly three months in the new year as work gets underway on major water and highway improvements.

The works, which are scheduled to run from Monday, January 5 until the end of March, have been planned jointly by Wessex Water and Somerset County Council.

The two organisations said they were working together to try and minimise disruption while West Street – the A396 – is closed.

The water supply improvements will involve the renewal of ageing mains by Wessex Water, while the highway works proposed by the county council can only be carried out under a full road closure due to the narrow streets.

A spokesman for the council said discussions had been held with the community and the work had been arranged to take place outside the main tourist season to minimise inconvenience and disruption.

A public meeting was held in the village back in October to discuss the plans with residents and businesses and resolve any issues before work begins.

Cllr Harvey Siggs, Somerset County Council's cabinet member for highways, said: "This is no ordinary highways scheme, it is a major operation and we have no choice but to close the road.

"We know it will have an impact on local people and we're really sorry for the inconvenience it will cause, but we hope they will understand why this is necessary.

"The water mains need replacing and we also have some important highways improvements to carry out.

"What we've done is plan all the work to take place at the same time during the winter outside of the main tourist season to minimise disruption as much as possible."

The existing water mains in Dunster are coming to the end of their serviceable life and have suffered a number of bursts in recent times, leading to several unplanned emergency road closures.

The old mains will be replaced with modern plastic pipes to safeguard the quality of the water supply and reduce the risk of future disruptions.

Individual service pipes will be reconnected to the new mains and any metal pipes within the public highway will be replaced at the same time.

Wessex Water design engineer Paul Hobbs said: "Our work is essential to provide residents and businesses with a reliable supply of water.

"We are using 'no-dig' techniques where possible to reduce the number of excavations required and allow us to complete the work as quickly as possible.

"Although the road will be closed to through traffic, businesses will remain open as usual and we would encourage local people to continue to support traders while both the water supply and highway work takes place."

Mr Hobbs added that the company had written to local residents to explain more about the work and visited a number of businesses in the area.

The county council is also planning several other projects to improve facilities.

These include upgrading traffic signals, improving footpaths on West Street, carrying out improvements in anticipation of a new doctor's surgery, and resurfacing.

A spokesman for the council said the existing traffic signals had not been updated since the 1970s and faults were common.

The new signals would be more energy efficient and reliable and would also be easier to repair in the future.

In West Street, an area of cobbles will be replaced with paving in a scheme similar to that already carried out in High Street.

It was developed following safety concerns about the current uneven cobbles and is the result of a request from county Cllr Christine Lawrence and the Dunster Working Group.

They put forward a bid for joint funding from the county council's Small Improvement Schemes programme and the parish council.

Meanwhile, the highway works will include traffic calming measures, improved street lighting and a 'virtual footway' in anticipation of a new doctors' surgery opening.

Finally, once all the work is completed, the road between Park Street and High Street will be resurfaced.

Further details about the scheme can be found online at http://www.somerset.gov.uk/dunsterworks">www.somerset.gov.uk/dunsterworks.

The page will be updated while works are in progress.

There is further information about Wessex Water's supply work at http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/dunster">www.wessexwater.co.uk/dunster.