A TEMPORARY road closure in a town centre has been extended until December.

At a meeting of the Eastleigh Local Area Committee on Wednesday, it was decided that the road closure in Market Street and High Street, Eastleigh should be extended until December 15, as the country continues to deal with the affects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision to close the roads to all vehicles took place on June 15, 2020 and at the time was said to be to allow for safe social distancing.

The closures were originally planned to be lifted in April 2021, but now, if they do remain shut until December, they will have been closed for a total of 18 months.

At the meeting, councillors did admit that more needs to be done to communicate with businesses and review the closures.

Chair of Eastleigh Local Area Committee Cllr Tina Campbell said: “I should stress that the road closures remain a temporary measure and does not prevent the roads from being reopened at any time during this period when it is safe to do so.

"We will regularly be reviewing the situation and will also be consulting with local retailers and businesses.”

Chair of Eastleigh Business Improvement District (BID), Steve Shaw was also in attendance at the meeting which took place virtually and said he was "grateful for the opportunity we had to take part in the full discussion".

He added: "We look forward to working with the council to consult with the businesses on ongoing changes to their trading area and feedback to them the results of these in the agreed regular reviews."