WORK is to start to repair the landslip that closed the main road through English Bicknor.

It is almost a year since the landslip, which has caused disruption to bus services as well as commuters and schoolchildren, first closed the Ross Road.

A diversion was put in place which took traffic through Central Lydbrook while the county council carried out tests and examined the options available to stabilise the ground beneath the road, before repairs could take place.

The experts have now decided to use a new technique, 'electro kinetic treatment', which is described as 'cost effective and innovative'.

This involves using electric probes set into the ground, which are energised and which drain excess water from the ground, and consolidate the soil – making it more solid, stable, and ready to take the new road surface.

The work is being funded from the £3.3 million that was awarded to Gloucestershire through the government's severe weather recovery scheme.

It is hoped that the road will reopen under temporary traffic lights during February next year with the road fully open in the spring.

Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways and floods, said: "I'm really pleased that our work is underway in English Bicknor to stabilise and reconstruct the road. It's a big challenge in engineering terms but we've come up with a neat solution by using electro-kinetic treatment which will save the taxpayer money too."