Work to start on upgrading A64 near Malton

Work is to start on a multi-million pound alteration to a trunk road junction to help reduce traffic passing through two North Yorkshire towns.

The £5.6m improvement of the A64 Brambling Fields Junction will allow vehicles to bypass Malton and Norton.

A lane of the A64 will be closed on either side of the trunk road in the Brambling Fields area for 24 weeks.

Access to homes and businesses will be maintained but diversions will be put in place.

Ryedale District Council said the work would reduce traffic passing through the Butcher Corner junction in Malton town centre by up to 30%.

Councillor Keith Knaggs, leader of Ryedale District Council, said: "For a short periods of limited pain the community will achieve a very significant long-term gain."

He added: "This new slip road will mean that we can improve the air quality in Malton town centre, make it a better and safer place for business and shopping and bring forward new jobs and new homes for Ryedale people."