A MAIN road in Cheddar Gorge will close for five weeks to allow for urgent rock face safety work from Monday, September 19.

The Cliffs will close to allow enable a project that will reduce the risk of dangerous rock falls following a hot and dry summer.

The road is expected to be closed to vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians from Monday, September 19 until Saturday, October 20.

The work is due to start on Tuesday and it must be completed before the end of October for ecological reasons.

It will be completed by specialist rope access abseil workers who have experience working on similar projects in the gorge.

A diversion will be in place via the A371 (Draycott Road and Wells Road), the A39 in Wells, and the B3135 at Green Ore.

An announcement on the Cheddar Gorge & Caves website said: “The urgency of this work has been brought about following a recent inspection of the rock face, which identified areas where the risk of rock fall is high and imminent, which subsequently requires our immediate action. 

“The long dry summer has exasperated existing weaknesses in the rock, which has increased the risk of uncontrolled and dangerous rockfalls associated with autumn and winter storm conditions.

“The need for urgency is enhanced by ecological constraints, which require that the rock work is completed before the end of October, when bats potentially occupy their winter roosts in the cliffs.”

It added: “It will involve scaling of loose rock fragments using hand tools, which will then be dropped to the base of the slope under controlled conditions.

“We will take all steps possible to protect the integrity of the gorge road.

“During this time, we will also endeavour to carry out work to remove trees affected by Ash Die Back and perform flood prevention work by clearing soakaways of accumulated debris.

“Cheddar Gorge & Caves understands that this road closure will cause significant disruption and inconvenience to those people who live and run businesses in and around the gorge.

“We have considered all alternative options that would allow us to complete the work while keeping the road open, but due to the location, scale and potential for serious harm in the case of rock falls, there is no other viable option other than to carry out the work with the road fully closed.

“The safety of all gorge users is our top priority.”

For more information, visit Travel Somerset or the Cheddar Gorge & Caves website.