MOTORISTS face a huge diversion with the evening and early morning closure of a small section of road connecting two honeypot towns in the Lake District.

Resurfacing works lasting for two weeks will start next month on a stretch of the A591 from the Waterhead traffic lights, near Ambleside, leading south to Stagshaw. It means that from Monday November 4 the road will be closed to all traffic between 6.30pm and 1am on week nights. No works or closures will take place over the weekends.

But motorists needing to travel the route connecting Ambleside and Windermere between those times face a 40-plus mile diversion via the A593 (Ambleside to Broughton via Coniston), A5092 (Broughton to Greenodd), A590 (Greenodd to Newby Bridge) and A592 (Newby Bridge to Windermere).

The road will re-open to two-way traffic at the end of each shift, and a way for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will be maintained throughout.

A Cumbria County Council spokesperson said that, due to the narrow width of this section of road, it will be necessary to close it while work is taking place.

The project will involve resurfacing, carriageway reconstruction and associated works and repainting road markings.

Following a request from the community, the road will remain open on the evening of Friday November, 15, ahead of the Ambleside Christmas lights switch-on event the following day.

Cllr Keith Little, CCC cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “The condition of this road has deteriorated significantly and the county council will be putting in a new surface so road users can enjoy a safe and smooth journey.

“Unfortunately, this section of the A591 is quite narrow so we will need to temporarily close the road at night to enable our contractor to safely carry out this work.

“The county council recognises the A591 is one of Cumbria’s busiest roads so we have tried to minimise the impact of the road closure by arranging for these works to take place during off-peak night-time hours.

“However, we appreciate there will still be some disruption. We apologise for any inconvenience and would ask people to plan ahead for their journeys during this period.”

South Lakes District Councillor Andrew Butcher said the road closure will cause 'bedlam'.

"Why are we not working right through the night to try and open again as normal," he said.

"I just hope we don't have an accident on the A590 as it will be receiving a large amount of overspill."