URGENT work is being carried out in an attempt to prevent further closures of the A358 near Combe Florey, which was hit three times by mudslides in 2022.

Highways staff had to clear hundreds of tonnes of mud and potatoes from the road during the three incidents, two of which happened a fortnight apart.

Then, a landslip in the fields just before Christmas saw a West Somerset Railway embankment collapse, forcing the closure of the line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead.

The incidents each followed heavy rainfall on the fields, where farming practices were said to have changed recently.

Now, Somerset County Council has said it is working with a local landowner to ensure urgent measures were carried out to prevent any further landslips on to the road.

Essential drainage upgrade and clearance works along the A358 at Combe Florey was also being carried out by the council’s highways engineers this week.

A council spokesman said heavy rain had produced run-off from fields which saw tonnes of soil, slurry, and potatoes run on to the road at Combe Florey last August and again in September.

He said closure of the road and major clear-up operations were needed on both occasions.

A smaller incident then occurred in the same location on December 20 which also resulted in a closure.

The spokesman said after the first incidents a local tenant farmer was asked by the council to carryout remedial measures to prevent another incident.

However, although some works were undertaken, it proved to be insufficient to stop the slip in December.

The council was now in negotiation with the landowner and ‘will require further remedial measures’.

County council transport portfolio holder Cllr Mike Rigby, who lives in Bishops Lydeard, said: “Local people and road users are quite rightly fed up with this happening and the landowner has a clear responsibility to do something about this.

“We have made this clear to the landowner, and we are committed to ensuring that effective remedial works are carried out urgently so that this sort of incident cannot happen again.”

Cllr Rigby said if anybody saw a problem on the roads they could report it quickly and easily by visitingwww.somerset.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem-on-the-road.