SHOPS affected by the closure of a section of cross-country road will be open as normal during the four-week delay, a business owner has insisted.

The A684 will be closed from Morton-on-Swale to Ainderby Steeple later this month, while road resurfacing and drainage work is carried out.

It will be closed for four weeks from January 31, with contractors working up to 14 hours a day to ensure the work is completed as quickly as possible.

The works will be carried out over three phases, with each expected to last about ten days.

Although the road will be closed to through traffic, access will be permitted for residents and local business owners and their customers.

Traffic marshals will be present on site to guide shoppers and business owners through the ongoing works. A signed diversion route will be operated, using the A6136 and the B6271 Scorton to Northallerton road.

Robert White, who has run the butcher’s shop in Morton-on-Swale for the past 20 years, said local businesses would suffer a dip in passing trade.

He said: "It is not just our shop, the pubs and the village shop and post office will also be affected.

"This will affect all the local businesses, there is no two ways about it - deliveries will have a hard time getting in, and so will customers.

"It is important that we get the word out there that we will still be open while the road is closed."

Councillor Gareth Dadd, executive member for highways, said: "We have liaised closely with local communities, businesses, and schools to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.

"We have timed this work to coincide with the completion of the bridge repairs at Skipton on Swale, thereby avoiding having to have two major east-west routes closed simultaneously.

We are all acutely aware of the inconvenience and disruption that these works may cause; however if these repairs are not carried out, we could be in the position of facing even longer closures and disruption."

Several local bus services will also be affected by the road closure.

For full details, visit northyorks.gov.uk/businfo or call bus operator Dales & District, on 01677-425203.