Herefordshire Council have announced that the B4224 road, from Fiddler’s Green to Fownhope, remains closed after being severely damaged by Storm Dennis.

The B4224 was dealt a double blow by the storm, which caused a 6.5 metre wide landslip and a separate partial collapse of a 100-metre long retaining wall.

Although the council hope to repair and reopen the road much sooner, works may take until the end of September to complete.

Safety and structural inspections of the road took place last week with BT Openreach, Cadent and Western Power Distribution checking their services that run along it. BT Openreach will need to move two supply cables across the landslip.

The council also confirmed that further investigations and specialist surveys need to take place prior to the commencement of reconstruction work and these will take place within the next two weeks.

Clive Hall, Acting Assistant Director of Highways and Transport at Herefordshire Council said: “We are exploring all potential options to speed up this work, mitigate road closures, enable pedestrian and cycle access either along the road or via other routes. We fully understand the impact that this closure is having on residents, businesses and road users. It is our priority to fix both sites along the road as quickly as is safely possible.

“We have provided additional public transport and the businesses in Fownhope are very much open for business.”

Herefordshire council is expediting repairs to the B4224 from within its own reserves and will seek, in due course, to recover funding from central government through flood-related Bellwin Funding or other sources.

Diversion routes signposting access routes into the village for through traffic are now operating and their condition will be regularly inspected and monitored to ensure effectiveness.

Diversion routes do differ for small vehicles and HGV’s, and motorists are being urged not to put themselves at risk of injury by attempting to drive along closed roads.

Anyone with any questions can call the council’s Customer Services Team on 01432 261800.