ANYONE wanting to travel between Colchester and London early next year is set for a double transport headache with part of the A12 due to be completely shut throughout three weekends at the same time when there are no direct trains to the capital.

The A12 road will be closed at Ewell Bridge near Kelvedon while repair work is carried out to the structure which was hit by an oversized vehicle.

Motorists attempting to travel to London will be taken on a 22-mile detour along the A120 towards Braintree, down the A131 through Great Notley, and then onto the A130 around Chelmsford where they will then be able to rejoin the A12.

On weekdays, lanes around the work will be narrowed and a 50mph limit will be in place, but part of the road is due to shut on the weekends of January 28 and 29, February 4 and 5 and finally February 25 and 26.

The closure will coincide with a railway shutdown on the same weekends.

Earlier this year Network Rail announced London-bound trains on Sundays in January will only run as far as Ingatestone, Billericay or Wickford, with services to Liverpool Street due to be finished off by replacement buses.

The same situation will be in place on weekends throughout February meaning anyone travelling from Colchester to London is set for a massive headache.

Kevin Bentley, Essex County Council’s member with responsibility for infrastructure, said he would be getting in touch with relevant parties to try and ensure people would be able to travel freely.

He said: “Clearly essential road repairs need to be done and so do essential works on the railway.

“But I certainly would have expected the organisations involved to have spoken to one another.

“Now it has been brought to my attention I will write a letter to see if things can be better organised for people who are travelling between Colchester and London on the affected weekends.”

Chairman of Marks Tey Parish Council Allan Walker said: “The A120 is at capacity now.

“It is certainly going to extend the problems we have.”

The A120 will be closed between Marks Farm and Marks Tey overnight from January until May.

Mr Walker added: “That is going to cause a lot of problems but at least we will get something for Marks Tey at the end of it with a resurfaced highway.”

At the time when the railway works were announced, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia Richard Schofield said maintenance work and the associated inconvenience and disruption was necessary to get a bigger and better railway service.

He said:”To get a bigger and better railway, passengers have to experience the inconvenience and disruption that closing the railway causes.

“I’d like to thank passengers for their continued understanding .”