DRIVERS in Marlborough were surprised on Monday to see roadworks start a week early on Granham Hill.

The Pewsey road out of Marlborough will be closed from Monday for two weeks to enable Granham Hill to be resurfaced.

However traffic lights appeared at the bottom and top of the hill on Monday.

A county council spokesman said: "The road is being closed for two weeks which will make the completion deadline very tight because of the amount of work that has to be done.

"Ringway Parkman (the county council's contractors) started doing some of the preparation work on Monday with day-time traffic lights."

There have been numerous complaints over the last two or three years about the state of Granham Hill where large areas of the road surface had broken up.

The spokesman said it was decided to have the work done while the schools were on their Easter holidays when traffic was lighter.

For the duration of the closure the advised alternative route is via the A346 to Burbage (Seymour Pond roundabout) and then the B3087 to Pewsey.

The spokesman said the work on Granham Hill was planned to coincide with the completion of the gas mains work in George Lane.