Lengthy Shropshire roadworks set to hit holidaymakers

The B4368, which runs through the Corvedale and links Craven Arms and Ludlow to Bridgnorth, Much Wenlock and the West Midlands, could also be closed for a week in the daytime during the school half term holidays at the start of May while up to 4,000 metres of new water pipes are laid.

The news has sparked fears that the work could cause congestion during the school holidays and cause disruption for people travelling to Ludlow Spring Festival from May 9 to 11.

Officials at Severn Trent Water today pledged to cause as little disruption as possible but insisted the work was necessary to replace old pipes which were prone to bursting.

The work will affect the road from the junction with the B4365 at Pedlar's Rest and villages such as Corfton, Diddlebury, Aston Munslow and Munslow. They will be completed in 100-metre sections and work is expected to be finished by August.

Norman Pearce, landlord of the Sun Inn in Corfton, said he had been visited by a Severn Trent representative and had been promised a minimum of disruption. But he said he still had concerns.

He said: "Closing the road at half term is okay for the locals as they don't have to get their kids to school, but not okay for tourists. Half term is in a busy bit of the season."

He said people would be making their way to Ludlow Spring Festival at the end of the half term week, and the weekend before he was holding a charity beer festival at the pub. "We usually raise £5,000 for local charities, it could make a lot of difference," he said.

"With road works on a major tourist route, once tourists find there's a problem they won't come back that way."

Richard Arnold, proprietor of the Crown Country Inn at Munslow, said: "Any sort of roadworks has a knock-on effect on the businesses round here, because there's no easy way around – you have to go up the A49 to Church Stretton and over Wenlock Edge.

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