DELAYED work to resurface part of Huntingdon’s ring road will start this weekend – but the message is that the town is still open for business and the work will not be taking place during prime retail hours.

The work will take place on the ring road between Ermine Street and Hartford Road.

This stretch of the road will be closed to traffic from 7pm on Saturday night (March 9) until 7am the following morning.

And it will be the same again the following weekend.

On Saturday, March 16, the road between the bus station and George Street will be closed from 7pm until 7am on the Sunday for the resurfacing works.

The £250,000 works were originally scheduled to take place in the weeks leading up to Christmas but shop owners in the town asked Cambridgeshire County Council to postpone the resurfacing as they feared it would turn away customers and damage trade.

There had been some concern that the signs placed on the ring road by Cambridgeshire County Council did not make it clear that the work was taking place overnight. A few phone calls later and the closure times have now been included.

A CCC spokesman said: “During these periods the road will be closed and only residents will have restricted access.

“Direction signs and signed diversion routes will be in place for through terrific, and a route, under traffic control, will be available through the closed area for residents.

“Every effort will be made to reduce disruption and complete the works as quickly as possible.”

Katy Sismore, BID Huntingdon manager, added: “I would like to thank the county council for adding the times of the closures to the signs and I am keen to remind everybody who wants to come into the town that they will still be able to pick up their Mother’s Day flowers from the florist. People also will still be able to get into town for the pubs, clubs and restaurants.”