Work to repair a busy road in Southampton following a landslip can finally resume - and will reopen almost two months later than planned.

The discovery of "potentially live unknown cables" on St Denys Road forced work to stop for weeks.

But today Southampton City Council has confirmed that work can resume to repair the road, which has been closed eastbound since the start of last month, and the road will reopen around December 15.

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A spokesperson for the council said: “We have been informed by the parties carrying out the repairs that the previously discovered uncharted cables have been determined safe.

“Work is now anticipated to continue until the weekend of 15th December 2024."

Work was previously stopped due to the discovery by Network Rail on October 24, which identified “many deep uncharted services”.

This caused the team to test and manage the possibly live unknown cables, to ensure public safety which caused further delays to traffic.

An electrical cable was also found in September which caused further delays in their plans.

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The works have taken place due to the repair of a railway bridge after a wall suffered a partial collapse between Adelaide Road and Thomas Lewis Way, after a landslide last December.

The council confirmed that until December 1, work will continue to reconstruct the sublayers of the collapse, limit land loss and preserve the integrity of the structure. The road closure will remain until then.

From December 1 to 15, traffic light restrictions and closures will be lifted, with the westbound lane closure and Adelaide Road, between 9am and 3pm, remaining in place.

The spokesperson continued: "We appreciate the patience and understanding of residents as this key infrastructure project is completed and we recognise the impact that these delays are having, please be assured all stakeholders are working collaboratively to complete this repair in a timely manner."

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport said: “I would like to thank everyone for their patience and for continuing to follow the signed diversion route while these emergency works have been ongoing.

"We fully appreciate the disruption that they have caused and the frustration experienced when the uncharted services were discovered creating uncertainty about when the scheme would finish.

"We have been working hard with our partners to make these services safe and remove them from the highway, allowing us to return our focus to the completion of the repair works by mid-December.”