THE eastbound carriageway of the A303 near Amesbury will be closed from 25 June until 28 June to remove a bridge over the road next to the Solstice Park business Development.

The carriageway will be closed from 8pm on the Friday to 3.30pm on the Sunday.

The westbound carriageway will be closed from 10pm on the Friday to 6am on the Monday.

Eastbound traffic will be diverted from the A303 Countess roundabout near Amesbury up the A345 to Beehive roundabout at the junction with the C56.

Traffic will take the C56, The Portway, to the A338 at Winter-bourne Gunner, rejoining the A303 at Parkhouse roundabout.

A303 westbound traffic will be diverted to Salisbury via the A343 at Andover.

Traffic will then take the A36 and turn onto the A303 at the A303/A36 Wylye Inter-change.

Ted Hart, highways agency project manager, said: "The closure is needed so that we can demolish the bridge safely.

"The work is being done over a weekend to avoid affecting business traffic during the week.

"The bridge is made of concrete and steel and has to be broken up and cut into small pieces for removal."

He added: "This is a busy holiday route, so the closure will affect drivers travelling to holiday destinations in the South West.

"Long distance travellers are advised to use the M4 as an alternative route.

"Local diversions will be in place.

"We do advise drivers to allow extra time for their journeys over this weekend because of the diversion routes."

A new bridge, to be named Solstice Park Bridge, will be completed before the demolition of the existing bridge.