Wet weather further delays road reopening

A major road between two West Yorkshire towns is set to remain closed for at least another week after emergency repairs were hit by further delays.

The A646 Halifax Road, between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, has been shut since 13 December, after a culvert collapsed and damage to a sewer was discovered.

The road was initially expected to reopen on Christmas Eve, but after complications emerged during the repairs, drivers were told it would instead stay shut until 6 January.

However, Yorkshire Water has now said that the road would not be re-opened until Monday 13 January after extreme wet weather over the new year period had hampered the repairs.

Since the closure, traffic has been re-routed via Littleborough over the Lancashire border, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "We are keeping in close contact with residents and local businesses to keep them up-to-date with anticipated timelines and have assigned a liaison team so they have a point of contact to answer any queries or concerns.

"We appreciate this is inconvenient and frustrating for residents and local businesses, and we thank them for their patience and understanding as we work to resolve these complicated issues as quickly as we can, despite being hampered by the extreme weather."

Yorkshire Water and Calderdale Council said they planned to reopen one side of the road from 13 January and operate a traffic light system so vehicles could run from both sides while the repairs were completed.

A shuttle bus, which has been running to provide transport for residents on the Todmorden side of the works, was expected to continue operating until the road was partially reopened.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.