A Wiltshire road will close for four months as part of a £2.5 million repair project to upgrade a town’s water supply.

Wessex Water is replacing over a mile of degrading water main on the outskirts of Calne in a scheme that will take its investment around the town to £2.5 million since last year.

This phase of work will focus on Bremhill Lane between Bremhill and Ratford, starting on November 18.

The route is expected to be shut until mid-March, from the junction with Turfhouse Lane and the road into Bremhill village in the north to just south of the hamlet of Ratford.

During this time, a diversion route will mean increased traffic on the A3102 and A4 at Chilvester Hill.

In total, Wessex Water will have replaced more than six miles of pipe in the Calne area by the summer of 2025.

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The latest project follows a £400,000 scheme completed throughout Bremhill in the summer of 2023.

Three additional phases of work, costing more than £700,000, have also been taking place to upgrade the water supply in and around Cherhill, with the last of these expected to be completed by January.

Finally, a £500,000 scheme will kick off near Hilmarton next April and will see 1,900 metres of water mains replaced.

Wessex Water’s director of engineering and asset management Eddie Rant says the utilities firm will be working to ensure the project is carried out as quickly as possible.

Mr Rant emphasised that the works would lead to “improved water quality” in the area.

He said: “All of these projects are essential pieces of work to ensure our customers in the rural areas around Calne can benefit from improved water quality and reduced risk of bursts affecting their supplies.

“Following our five-month project in Bremhill last summer and a number of projects in and around Cherhill, we’re continuing to renew our water main network in this area and indeed Wiltshire, using plastic pipes to replace the existing cast-iron ones.

“Our two-year project to renew water mains through Devizes has also been taking place throughout 2024, with more than £2 million being invested to replace more than two kilometres of the network in the town.

“We’ve written to local customers to advise them about this work (in Ratford) and we’ll be working quickly and safely to get this improvement finished.”