DRIVERS face disruption during the coming months because of refurbishment works to bridges and maintenance on the A66M.

Birse Construction, which will be carrying out the work on the bridges for the Highways Agency, has warned disruption will start today on the Cleasby to Stapleton road, south of Darlington.

Work on the bridges could continue until next Easter.

From tomorrow, there will be single-lane traffic controlled by traffic lights, while there will also be a number of overnight closures for all traffic.

These start on Thursday night, from 11pm to 6am, and the following night from 11pm to 6am.

Diversion routes will be signposted.

And on a 2.75mile stretch of the A66 between Long Newton reservoir and the western edge of Elton village, to the east of Darlington, five weeks of refurbishments were due to start yesterday.

The work is expected to extend the lifespan of the road and improve safety.

Mark Schofield, project manager for the Highways Agency, said the work was "to improve the quality of the road surface and to extend the life of the carriageway and improve road safety for all road users."

He added: "This project will use low noise road surfacing."