Low Road in Weybread, near Harleston, is finally repaired two-and-a-half years after flood damage

Work to repair a road struck by erosion problems is finally under way after a two-and-a-half-year wait.

Low Road, just outside Harleston, has been closed off since floods caused the ground beneath it to be washed away.

Repair work finally began last week to stabilise the riverbank and repair the damaged carriageway, with a completion date scheduled for March 23.

The road was initially closed on Christmas Eve in 2020 following severe floods, with local residents and business owners forced to take a two-mile detour.

Six months after the road closure, residents were already growing frustrated, with Tim Lewis, the owner of Shotford Hall Farm and Marsh Larder Cafe, lamenting the time lost by not being able to use the most direct route.

“In a car, you can do it in 10 minutes but, in slower farm vehicles, it’s a good 20 minutes,” he said.

“We would do about 90 per cent of our journeys on that route and we are having to take a three-mile detour about four times a day.”

The 54-year-old, who reopened his cafe as lockdown measures began to ease, before eventually closing in May of last year, added that the closure had resulted in a significant impact for both of his businesses.

Speaking six months after the closure, he said: “Takings are definitely down. From the road closure to the cafe, it is 400 metres.

“Some people do park up and walk over, and we have got a good number of customers that have made the effort to go round, but it’s something they have got to want to do.

“And when we come to harvest time, we will have to have additional grain trailers because of the extra travel. We have to attend to livestock on a daily basis and some are on the other side of the closure.”

Valerie Warman, who has lived on the road for 18 years, also voiced her frustrations in the months after the closure.

“They keep putting the date back, and it’s a two-mile diversion for us,” she told the Diss Express. “It’s been going on, and on, and on.

“It’s getting beyond a joke – it’s even worse for the farmers, because the tractors have to go down the diversion and it’s getting dangerous for people walking down there.

“I’m worried – my husband was stung by a wasp not that long ago and had to go to hospital after he suffered a reaction. If it happens again, they’re going to be an extra 10 minutes to get to us.”

Norfolk County Council’s most recent statement on the work said: “Following the long-term closure of Low Road because of riverbank erosion, work is scheduled to install piling to stabilise the riverbank and to repair the damaged carriageway.

“The existing road closure and diversion route will remain in place during the work.

“The existing signed diversion route is via Mendham Lane, the A143 Harleston bypass, Spirketts Lane and Shotford Road.”

The work, which will cost £236,000, is being carried out by Norfolk County Council’s Community and environmental services department and it contractors.

“We thank people for their patience while this work is being completed,” added the statement.