MOTORISTS planning to travel to West Somerset this weekend are being advised to expect significant delays.

A 16ft high, 16ft wide, 103ft long 145-ton boiler is being moved to a paper mill in Watchet on Sunday.

Its journey will impact on those planning to use the A38, A39 and B3190, travelling to and from the West Somerset area.

The load will start its journey at 8am on Sunday, travelling from Sedgemoor Services on the M5 southbound to junction 24.

From there it will head into Bridgwater on the A38, turn left onto the A39 Broadway and continue along the A39 through Williton to Washford Cross, where it will turn right onto the B3190 and on to the paper mill at Watchet.

Throughout the journey the load will be escorted by the police.

It is not known how long it will take but it could take several hours.

During the move there are likely to be significant tailbacks and motorists are advised to avoid the area and to use an alternative route if possible – including the A358 which is suitable for vehicles under 4.2m (13’9”) tall.

The width and length of the load will mean that it will take up most of the road and there are very few safe places to pull the load over to allow traffic to clear.

The nature of this load and the difficulty of the route mean that the operation to move the boiler cannot be moved during the hours of darkness.