THE road haulage industry will be badly hit by the shock closure of the Newbury bypass only ten months after it opened.

It will be closed for resurfacing work at one of the busiest times of the year for the haulage industry.

The southbound carriageway of the £100 million road will close for a month from September 1, and the northbound will shut for the subsequent four weeks. Contractors need to replace the damaged porous asphalt surface.

"Its going to be an absolute nightmare,'' said Bob Terris, chairman of the South and East region of the Road Haulage Association and managing director of the Meachers Group.

"Forcing vehicles back into Newbury could add on anything up to 30 per cent to the costs of a journey from Southampton to Birmingham.

"These closures are going to come at a time which is a busy period for hauliers as businesses stock up and prepare for the Christmas season. It would be much better if this work were carried out in January and February.''

The AA is demanding "an urgent, in-depth inquiry'' to establish what went wrong.

"The A34 used to be one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the country,'' said an AA spokesman.

"That bottleneck is set to return, causing huge delays for drivers and making life unpleasant for the people who live in Newbury."

Project director for the agency, Steve Rowsell, said: "Although the road remains safe and the stone loss is not severe, it is clear that the surface will not last its intended life span.

"We could continue to patch individual sections as problems appear, but this would only prolong the disruption."

Costain Civil Engineering will be footing the £2.5 million bill for the work.

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