RESIDENTS in Semington hope to raise thousands of pounds to celebrate the closure of parts of the busy A350 next year.

About £1,100 has already been raised though a series of events held over the last 13 months.

An auction held in the village hall on Saturday made £329. Organiser Jim Lloyd hopes enough cash can be generated for a grand party to mark the closure and the opening of the £12m Semington bypass.

He said: "It will be an historic moment for the village as we have been waiting for a bypass for years."

More than 30 people attended the auction and a wide range of lots were up for grabs, including a meal at the Somerset Arms, floor tiles, plants, furniture and fossils found during the road works.

Mr Lloyd, 57, who is the sub postmaster at Semington Post Office, said: "Hopefully, the money will mean there can be a free party for all the villagers."

The fundraising campaign, nicknamed By-Bye 350, was kick-started by a midsummer fundraising day in June and a coffee morning was held three weeks ago.

Organisers hope to hold a weekend-long street party next June which could see residents opening their gardens to the public and music from the Bournemouth marching band.

Angela Weston, chairman of Semington Parish Council and By-Bye 350 committee member, said: "When the start date for Semington Bypass was known, the By-Bye 350 fundraising committee was formed as a sub-committee of the parish council to raise funds for a major village celebration.

"Semington has waited for over 30 years for its bypass and villagers won't miss the 20,000 plus vehicles a day which currently go through it."

Resident and former Wiltshire County Councillor Doug Firmager, 75, said: "In the 16 years we have lived here the road has got busier. I would say the amount of traffic has almost doubled.

"The opening of the bypass will be a great relief. It will return the village to what it was originally a quiet backwater on a lane."

Businesses in and around the village are worried the new road could force them to close because it will kill off passing trade, but Mr Firmager said it may not make much of a difference.

"When the road closed five years ago for bridge repair work things picked up because people let their children out to go down to the shop but at the moment they dare not," he said.

The bypass is due to open early next year which will mean two points along the A350 will be closed to through traffic; one just north of Outmarsh Farm, on the Melksham side of the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the other at Little Marsh.