Roadworks are set to disrupt Brigham, Broughton Cross and Clifton as part of United Utilities' pipe connection work for their West Cumbria Supplies project.

There will be two separate road closures, beginning with the C2007 Brigham Road into Brigham from the A66, which will close for five days from July 15 to July 19.

This will be followed immediately by the closure of the C2065 High Brigham Road, Brigham from July 20.

Work is expected to take up to seven weeks altogether.

A United Utilities spokesman said: "The closures are to allow essential connection work as part of our West Cumbria Supplies Project, which is our major multi million pound project to connect homes and businesses in West Cumbria to our Thirlmere reservoir and provide people in the area with a more resilient drinking water supply which is better for the environment."

The road will be closed to vehicles, but there will also be no access for cyclists or pedestrians while the work is carried out.

They said: "This is because the pipes we’re connecting are quite large and will require the complete excavation of the carriageway and footpaths and safety is absolutely paramount."

The only pedestrian access that will be permitted is during the first road closure to enable access to St Bridget's Church, Brigham, from July 15 to July 19.

United Utilities said they have written to all villagers to explain the situation and will be running a regular shuttle bus service for the duration of the works to help ease the strain locally.

During the first closure this new temporary service – the X5S – will run hourly between the Clifton Hotel, Bridgefoot, Broughton Cross and Brigham The Lime Kiln to connect the villages. When the longer road closure is in place, the service will run between Clifton, Bridgefoot, Broughton Cross, Brigham and Cockermouth.

A United Utilities spokesman said: “We’re sorry to people in Clifton, Brigham and Broughton for this inconvenience and we hope the new shuttle bus will help make it easier.

"Due to the scale of work we need to do in these small roads, it’s impossible to keep the roads open but we’ll be working as quickly as we safely can to complete our work and return everything to normal. Please bear with us.”

United Utilities has provided a bus timetable for their shuttle service during road closures.

Signs will be in place for an alternative route for cyclists that do not want to use the A66.

Keep up-to-date and see the full shuttle timetable at: https://www.unitedutilities.com/cumbria/our-plans/west-cumbria/traffic-information/