HAMPSHIRE County Council has defended unpopular roadworks in a busy Winchester road this week.

Resurfacing started in St Georges Street on Tuesday night and is set to finish tomorrow.

It is part of Operation Resilience, a county wide programme to protect roads against extreme weather and increasing traffic.

Several businesses criticised the works claiming they were unnecessary and the money would be better spent updating the pedestrian area.

But a county council spokesman said: “This scheme is part of the county council’s programme of planned structural highways maintenance to increase the resilience of our roads against damage caused by extremes in weather and increasing volumes of traffic.

“The carriageway is deteriorating significantly and is cracking in places, requiring repairs up to depths of 10 centimetres.”