LENGTHY stretches of the A1 in North Yorkshire will be closed overnight on Saturday as part of £380m scheme to upgrade part of the road to a three-lane motorway.

The Highways Agency said the road would be closed northbound for 19 miles between junction 50 (Baldersby), and Scotch Corner, and southbound for 12 miles between Scotch Corner and junction 51 (Leeming), from 8pm on Saturday until 6am on Sunday.

The agency has also scheduled closing the same stretches of road on Saturday, October 4, from 8pm to 6am, but depending on progress of the work, this may not be needed.

The agency senior project manager Martin Neal said: "This closure is required for safe installation of traffic management to enable the safe construction of the new motorway.

"During the closure we ask that drivers plan their journeys.

"Diversion routes will be clearly signed and drivers should allow extra time for travelling along the diversion routes.”

Work to widen a 12-mile section of the A1 between Leeming and Scotch Corner, and to create an alternative route for local traffic, started in March.

The Department of Transport hopes it will boost the economy of North Yorkshire and the North-East by creating a continuous motorway-standard route between London and Newcastle.

When the scheme, which will generate 750 jobs in the construction industry over three years, opens to traffic in 2016/17, journey times between Leeming and Barton will be reduced by approximately 20 per cent.

Over a 60-year period, the improvements are predicted to save around 100 lives and prevent around 650 serious casualties.