Major roadworks on track as businesses impacted

The council said it was set to finish the works by mid-September

Major resurfacing work that left some business owners "petrified" is causing less disruption than expected, says the local council.

Six weeks into the M5 Junction 26 closure at Wellington, Somerset Council said it was on track and on budget to complete the £5.7m upgrade project work by mid-September.

Many locals and businesses were not happy with the closure of the junction and the A38 link road when it was announced. One trader since says it has been a "nightmare" to travel up and down the motorway.

But councillor Richard Wilkins, lead member for transport and waste at Somerset Council, said: "Of course, people were extremely worried but the roads have coped really well."

Mr Wilkins added: "We're still on track, the work is progressing. We should be finished on time. About 8,000 tonnes of asphalt have already gone down and that's of a total of about 16,000.

"We'll get this done, get it finished and have a fantastic new road at the end of it."

Seb Toon said it has been a "bit of a nightmare"

Seb Toon, owner of TLC Garage Services, said the closure had had "quite a bit of an impact".

"Jobs we normally do on the motorway that were previously a 19-mile (31km) round-trip are now more like 40 miles (64km)," he added.

"It's taking us an hour sometimes to get back from Taunton to here, which has been a bit of a nightmare."

Emma Slocombe said her customers have been impacted by the closure

Meanwhile, Emma Slocombe, director of Apple Campers at Foxmoor Business Park in Wellington, said it had been "harder" for some of their customers who come from Bristol and Cornwall.

"We're based at Foxmoor business park which is just off junction 26 so it's been a big disruption but it's not been as bad as we expected," Ms Slocom added.