THE brakes have been applied to a series of planned roadworks in Bordon.

Diversions are a common sight in the town but, despite writing to residents informing them of upcoming works which would close part of Firgrove Road, the Hampshire County Council has run into its own delays.

“We had originally intended to begin preparatory work on June 4 ahead of road-resurfacing work later in the month,” councillor Rob Humby, the council’s executive member for environment and transport, explained.

“However, due to the need for British Telecom to undertake some essential and urgent works as part of its rural-broadband-upgrade programme, we have agreed to postpone the planned carriageway resurfacing work to later in the summer.

“We are writing to local residents and businesses to advise them that the road-surfacing element of the works will be delayed and rescheduled.

“This scheme is part of our planned maintenance programme Operation Resilience - this is a long-term strategy to ensure Hampshire’s road network is more resilient to the impact of heavy traffic and bad weather.

“We adopt nationally recognised asset-management principles to ensure the funding we have is used in the most effective way and typical work includes carriageway reconstruction, surface dressing and traditional resurfacing.

“An extra £10million a year has been invested in the Operation Resilience programme and for this year an additional £1.5m is being spent on improving surface-water-drainage systems so that heavy and intense rainfall can drain away more effectively.”

Residents shared their frustration on social media when the works were first announced.

“Absolute nightmare for the parents of children at St Matthew’s School and very little warning,” Megan Breakspear commented.

“No courtesy or notification to the school which would have allowed them to inform all parents.”

Local motorists have encountered an uptick in delays recently with the development of Whitehill and Bordon’s relief road.

The £27m road is divided into two phases - the northern section is already finished. The southern stretch is further divided into two parts, section A and B. Following the collapse of construction firm Carillion, which had been working on the second phase of the road, the county council appointed Skanska to finish section A.

The final stretch, which will join the north and southern phases together, will be completed by Mildren Construction, based in Christchurch. Work is due to begin next Monday, June 25.

The idea of the relief road is to take through traffic away from the centre of the town, reducing east-west severance and harbouring a “shared space” suitable for all road users.

To compound this, the A325 will receive a raft of changes which will slow it down, making it far less appealing for someone passing through Bordon.