Business owners 'petrified' about road closure

Seb Toon said he is "petrified" for his business when the road closes

Business owners say they are "petrified" as a main road leading to the M5 will have to close for 14 weeks for works to be carried out.

Somerset Council's contractor Heidelberg Materials is going to refurbish Junction 26 of the M5 and the A38 Chelston link road near Wellington, which was built in 1974.

The project will require a complete closure of Junction 26 and the A38 link road for around 14 weeks from 16 June to September.

Seb Toon, owner of TLC Garage Services in Wellington, which operates a 24-hour breakdown recovery service, said he is "petrified" and needs access to the motorway 24 hours a day for his business to run.

Emma Slocombe said her customers are older people who worry about the closure

The window and timescale for the work has been agreed with National Highways and is dictated by forthcoming M5 works, alongside the need to allow National Highways to access its gritting depot off the Chelston Link Road during winter, the council said.

Two public drop-ins will be held in May in Wellington to give people the chance to meet the team and find out more information.

Somerset Council's lead member for transport and waste services, councillor Richard Wilkins, said: "Everyone who uses this route will be well aware of the state of the road.

"This is the only feasible way to renew this vital road. Doing nothing would mean we continue to patch the road piecemeal as and when, and this not cost effective and means sporadic long disruption."

Emma Slocombe, owner of Apple Campers on Foxmoor Business Park in Wellington, said: "The amount of traffic coming onto this site daily is immense, just normal people as well as the people who work here.

"A lot of our customers are a slightly older. So, understandably, they are a little bit worried about what's to come and we cannot reassure them at the moment.

"Everything is going to be closed, which is the scary bit."