MOTORISTS who use Wessington Way, Sunderland, are being told to allow extra time for their journeys.

Sunderland City Council is starting a programme of routine maintenance work on the city's high-speed roads, from today.

The work was due to start on the A1231 Wessington Way at 7am and will last for four days.

Lane closures will affect the stretch from the junction with Northern Way to its junction with the A19.

The work will include gully cleaning, street lighting maintenance, road marking and grass cutting.

Peter High, head of highways services, said: "In the past, routine maintenance jobs have been carried out on an ad hoc basis, which has often meant the same stretch of road being closed on a number of separate occasions.

"This way, all the works will be condensed into a shorter period of time, which hopefully, will mean less disruption in the long-term."