Red-faced council bosses have apologised after a blunder led to people being told the wrong road was going to shut for more than a year ahead of the building of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road.

Norfolk County Council had put up signs in Buxton Road, Spixworth, saying it would be closed for 18 months from January 18 while construction on the controversial £178.5m road was carried out.

That sparked anger among people living nearby, who said they had not been aware their street was going to have to close for the work on the road, which will stretch from the A47 at Postwick to the A1067 Fakenham Road.

And it turned out that the council had put the signs on the wrong road. It is another road in the village which is due to close.

A spokesman from Norfolk County Council said: 'The county council apologises for the signage error on Buxton Road. The road will not close as suggested and the signs have now been removed.'

It is actually Quaker Lane/St Faith's Road which will be permanently shut from January 18. On Buxton Road, there will be a temporary 30mph speed limit.

The spokesman added: 'Eventually, Buxton Road will go over the NDR, so further traffic measures will be needed when that work is being carried out.

'Along the whole route of the NDR, there will be a series of junctions and crossing points and some disruption will be inevitable.

'Every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum and to avoid the closure of important access routes wherever possible.'

Preliminary work on the NDR started last month. The 12.5 mile road is due for completion in early 2018.