Pressure from businesses and residents in Weybridge has forced Southern Gas to reduce planned works on Seven Hills Road from seven months to 12 weeks.

The work to reinforce the local gas network will see the road, the main route between Weybridge and Cobham and a key access route to the M25 and A3, closed from Monday, December 28.

The gas company had originally made arrangements with Surrey County Council (SCC) to carry out the work in a seven month period, but businesses on and near the road complained the disruption could have a massive impact on trade.

Residents also urged the gas company and SCC to reconsider, saying it would turn their day-to-day lives into a “nightmare”.

It is understood Southern Gas and SCC had been in negotiations for the closure for 18 months, but many businesses and residents said they had been “left in the dark” over the proposals until late last month.

Hundreds of people attended a public exhibition held by the two organisations at the Hilton Hotel in Seven Hills Road on Friday, November 27, to view the plans for the closure.

St George’s Hill Councillor John Bartlett said he was pleased the disruption had been reduced, but queried why it had taken SCC and Southern Gas to properly inform residents about the proposals.

He said: “They have been discussing this for 18 months and there has been no public consultation - I don’t think either of them realised this was an important road.

“If they have been discussing this for 18 months and the area’s county councillor did not know about it, something must be seriously wrong.”

He also said he believed the work should be put back to next summer when the school’s are on holiday.

He said: “There is so much reduction in traffic in the summer because there are not the school runs.”

But Michael Cavanagh from Southern Gas said although the company had made arrangements to reduce the period the road would be closed after feedback from businesses and residents, it was “vital” the work was carried out before next summer.

He said: “To reduce the work to 12 weeks we’ve had to rejig a much wider programme that covers southern England and divert resources from other projects.

“We are reinforcing the gas network because demand is going up and we need to provide more capacity.

“It is vital we do this work and it does have to happen now. If we don’t, there is a possibility there will be problems with the gas supply in the future.”

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