Residents 'left in the dark' over night-time A483 closures leading to 37-mile diversion

Dilys Gaskill, chairman of Llanymynech and Pant Parish Council, said she felt left in the dark concerning the plans, which are expected to cause major short-term upheaval for the villages involved.

The closures on the stretch of the road between Oswestry and Welshpool began last night and are due to continue tonight.

A spokesman for Shropshire Council said drivers will be diverted from Welshpool along the A458 to Bicton Heath on the outskirts of Shrewsbury before turning back north east on to the A5 to Oswestry or vice versa. Emergency vehicle access will be maintained for the duration of the works and asked anyone needing to enter the works area in an emergency situation to drive carefully and comply to the site speed limit. The road closures are in force from 8pm to 6am.

Councillor Gaskill said: "The A483 has always been a problem road anyway because of the sheer volume of traffic – it seems to need constant repairs to fill potholes.

"It would be interesting to find out how much money has been spent doing this.

"I don't know why they can't just build a bypass. Safety is the main thing and the diversions cause drivers to go along unknown territory and narrow lanes which is when accidents can happen.

"We knew they couldn't just cut off our communities – we need to be able to get to our homes – but a lot of residents had to ring Highways England in order to find out the details. We were relieved to hear that the resurfacing was taking place at night."

Councillor Gaskill thinks that the long convoys that have been travelling on the road for the past few weeks taking wind turbine blades and parts to Tirgwynt Wind Farm in Cefn Coch could be a contributory factor in the repairs being needed, but added they can't be blamed in isolation.

She said: "It wouldn't be fair to say that the turbine convoys alone are to blame for the repairs that are needed."

"I think it is a combination of all the heavy traffic – including the turbines – but apart from a few signs going up warning us of the works, we haven't been informed of much more officially, other than what we have read in the Shropshire Star.