A major route will be disrupted for at least two weeks while water mains are laid.

A stretch of the Gorleston-bound lane of Southtown Road in Great Yarmouth will be completely closed from today (Tuesday, June 25) from the junction of Cromwell Road.

During the closure there will be no access at all for southbound traffic, although vehicles travelling towards Yarmouth will be unaffected.

The work is being carried out by Essex and Suffolk Water.

Buses travelling towards Gorleston will be diverted via the by-pass (Pasteur Road and William Adams Way) and will not be stopping at all on Southtown Road, although journeys towards Yarmouth will operate as normal.

Meanwhile Norfolk County Council is providing a free shuttle bus between Yarmouth, Southtown, and Gorleston.

Run by Ambassador Travel it will see a single service running on a loop from Market Gates (stand A) to the Feathers pub in Gorleston High Street.

The bus will run as far as The Rumbold Arms in Southtown Road, double back on itself via Gordon Road, and head via the by-pass to Gorleston.

All buses towards Gorleston on services 1/1A, 5, 6/6B, 7, 8, 9, X1 and X11 will be diverted after the Matalan stop via Pasteur Road, the by-pass and William Adams Way, rejoining the normal route at the Beccles Road/Alpha Road stop (Halfway House).

It means that buses going to Gorleston, James Paget Hospital, Bradwell, Burgh Castle, Belton and Lowestoft will not be able to serve the stops at Anson Road, Gordon Road, Rumbold Arms and Waveney Road.

On its website First Bus apologised for the inconvenience, adding: "Unfortunately there are no other suitable diversionary routes available."

One person on social media tagged the looming disruption as a "nightmare".

Anglian Water works, which have seen traffic lights at South Quay, are due to finish on Thursday June 20.

Give-and-take traffic controls will remain in place until Monday June 24 in Admiralty Road while repairs to the road are made by Norfolk County Council.

A lane closure in North Quay is set to be in place until July 3, for BT works.

An Essex and Suffolk spokesperson said: "We are working in partnership with the Environment Agency who are constructing a new flood defence wall in the Southtown Road area.

"As part of the project, we must divert our water main which currently runs under the existing flood defence wall to avoid it getting damaged.

"A southbound lane closure along Southtown Road will be required for the duration of the diversion work, which we anticipate starting on Friday June 28 and taking up to two weeks.

"We appreciate this may cause some disruption for motorists and we would like to thank them for their patience while we carry out this vital work."

In fact the work started on Tuesday, June 25.

The project was originally scheduled to last from June 21 to July 19.