Gloucestershire County Council has reopened the B4632 over Cleeve Hill, 10 days ahead of schedule.

The section of road on the B4632 between Lye Lane and Gamble Lane on Cleeve Hill near Cheltenham has been closed since February 3, after highways engineers found a collapsed drain under the road requiring urgent attention.

The initial collapsed drain has been fixed, however crews have since discovered other issues which will need to be dealt with at a later date. The drains have been made safe, with a temporary surface reinstated and the four metre-deep trench filled back in.

Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “We really appreciate people’s patience during these essential works.

"We have been able to reopen the road ahead of schedule, and in plenty of time for the Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival.

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"A complete road closure was inconvenient but necessary; crews needed to make deep excavations to get to the broken drain and the safety of road users is our priority when these incidents happen.

"I’m grateful to our highways teams for making good progress on this work, and to local people for their co operation.”

Jenifer Dorman, infrastructure and improvements lead for Gloucestershire County Council, said: “We will need to come back at some point in the future to install a new pipe.

"We will be able to give residents and businesses a lot more notice for these works.”