A £150,000 stretch of Above Bar will be overhauled just five years after it was laid

Council chiefs have acted after several residents were injured on the city centre street that has been dubbed Southampton's "most expensive road".

The work on the stretch of Above Bar will begin within weeks but safety barriers have already been put up.

The road was branded a "disgrace" by the former council leader, Royston Smith, whose watch it was installed under.

The £150,000 stretch was laid five years ago as part of the revamp of Guildhall Square but its flagstones began to break up after only 18 months.

Two people have spoken to the Daily Echo about injuries suffered on the road in the past year, with grandmother Kay Russell being flung off her bike after hitting a stone that was jutting up.

And Ian Miller, pictured below, fractured his hip earlier this year as he attempted to cross the road, calling on the city council to act.

Now work is set to start on the city centre street on August 17, with council officers saying work has not taken place sooner as it needed to be monitored first before major work could take place.

Although engineers do not know exactly what they will find when they dig the road up the project has been scheduled to take six weeks, with work on site from 8am to 8pm, six days a week.

They believe the cause of the issues may be a hole, or multiple holes, under the surface of the road while damp conditions are also likely to have played a role.

Their task will be made more complicated by the fact that part of a tank road laid during the Second World War runs under the section of road, the edge of which may be causing an issue with the modern surface, while there is also a Victorian sewer nearby.

When the work is completed the flagstones will be replaced with a smooth tarmac surface that is described as being "more stable" than the current surface.

John Harvey, the council's highways manager, said: "We have done several investigations and we are getting different messages.

"We've got various plans and options in place and it will be sorted."

And council cabinet member for transport Jacqui Rayment said: "The idea is that when we open up we find out what is wrong and we've given ourselves six weeks for everything to be made good.

"Of course what we find when we open it up will determine how long it takes to make it good."

Discussions are ongoing with one of the contractors who originally carried out the work about funding.

A diversion around the Civic Centre and Commercial Road will be in place for bus services while the work takes place.