MOTORISTS in Southampton are set for fresh traffic disruption with the closure of a major bridge.

The Itchen Bridge will be shut overnight for six days as work to create a new cycle superhighway continues.

Hundreds of motorists have already endured gridlock on the bridge when the works started in October.

The £1.7m scheme was rubberstamped by Labour city council chiefs last year and is set for completion by March next year.

The work will result in a new cycle-friendly roundabout junction between Itchen Bridge and Central Bridge and a new highway between Woolston railway station and the city centre.

When work began in October the council and its highways contractor, Balfour Beatty, were inundated with a deluge of complaints as tailbacks reached back into Woolston and motorists endured delays of up to two hours.

The council and Balfour Beatty apologised for the delays and introduced new measures to eradicate the delays.

Now the bridge is set to be shut for six nights from February 2 to 7.

The bridge will be closed from its junctions with Portsmouth Road and Central Bridge each night from 7pm to 5.30am while resurfacing takes place. Central Bridge will also be closed from its junction with Terminus Terrace to the Itchen Bridge, and Saltmarsh Road will also be closed from the Itchen Bridge to Royal Crescent Road for the same period of time.