HASLEMERE is to face six weeks of major roadworks during the summer.

For two weeks of the work, expected to start in mid-August, part of the town centre will be closed to enable workmen and heavy machinery to move in to plane-off and relay the entire length of the High Street.

The roadworks cover an area from a point just north of Church Lane to the junction of the B2131, at the Haslemere town council office.

No firm start date has yet been set for the £60,000 programme of roadworks but it will avoid Goodwood Week when traffic through the town is heavier than usual.

Traffic will be diverted around the town and along residential roads. The the ban on turning right from Lower Road and on to the A286 at Shepherds Hill will be lifted throughout the duration.

Northbound traffic will diverted from the southern point of the closure along the B2131 and on to the A283 Petworth Road through Chiddingfold and back on to the A286 Haslemere to the northern point of its closure.

Southbound vehicles will be diverted along the same route in the opposite direction.

Roads through the town including Popes Mead, Bridge Road, Tanners Lane, Church Lane and Beech Road, as well as Three Gates Lane, Clammer Hill, Klondyke and Holdfast Lane will all be affected by the diversions.

Pedestrian and emergency vehicle access as well as vehicular access to affected premises will be kept open at all times.

Speaking to The Herald, Surrey County Council district engineer Graham Hogson said that residents and businesses affected will shortly receive details of the highway maintenance programme, road closures and diversions.

"We will be clearly trying to work within specific areas to allow sensible access to various parts of the High Street," said Mr Hodgson.

But he warned that the High Street may have to be closed for a very limited period of a couple of days to enable the final road surface to be laid.

As well as re-surfacing work, the county highways department is planning to carry out drainage improvements and installing dish-shaped channels along the edge of the carriageway to prevent a re-occurrence of flooding in the area of the Haslemere Museum.

Cobbles on parking bays in the High Street are also set to be lifted and re-laid.

Ppresident of the Haslemere Chamber of Trade Melanie Odell said that she had been assured that access to the town centre car park, would be maintained, as would collection and deliveries from office premises and shops.

"We are very concerned that there will be as little disruption as possible and we may ask Waverley Borough Council for free car parking to encourage people to come into town".

"The work has to be done but it needs to be well-managed and we need to be consulted," said Mrs Odell.

The town's deputy mayor, Stephen Mulliner, said: "We will be pressing the county council and Waverley Borough Council to help us take effective steps to ameliorate the impact of the work on the shopping facilities and businesses in the town."

The town council is set to discuss the forthcoming roadworks and its implication for the town at its planning and highways committee meeting tonight (Friday).