Five months of roadworks will start in part of Norwich at the end of this week, in a £1.2m scheme to protect the area from flooding.

The work in Hellesdon is part of a £10.3m surface water drainage project which has already seen work done in Thorpe St Andrew, Sprowston, Drayton and Taverham.

Work in Hellesdon is due to start on Friday, with work on the following streets: Broom Avenue; Links Avenue; Hawthorne Avenue; A140 Cromer Road (Brabazon Road to Waldemar Avenue); Westgate; Heath Crescent; Meadow Way; Meadow Close; Windsor Road; Prince Andrews Road; Brabazon Road; Waldemar Avenue; Eversley Road; Waldermar Park and Hercules Road.

The council says residents will be sent information before the work starts, detailing the expected start date and completion.

A Norfolk County Council spokesman said: 'Completely new drainage systems which meet current standards are being installed to assist the old existing soakage systems which are often overwhelmed in very heavy downpours.

'During construction the excavated areas will be fenced off and where necessary, road closures in operation to ensure the safety of the public with signed diversion routes in place.

'Overall the work involves installing over 12 miles of drainage pipes ranging from 150mm to 900mm in diameter.

'These will be able to tackle surface water which until now has not been able to drain away rapidly enough following very heavy rain.

'As Norfolk County Council recognises that this work may cause some disruption, and vehicular access to properties will be restricted at times, we will be working to get the work done as swiftly as possible.'

Work on the A140 Cromer Road will last up to two weeks and will see two way traffic lights used.

The council says those lights will be manually controlled to minimise disruption and improve traffic flow.

The scheme is designed to deal with the type of flooding that could be expected on average every 10 years, such as hit homes and businesses around Norwich between May and August 2014.

That saw flooding on 33 dates and 80 properties flooded inside.