A Lakenheath resident has slammed a road closure that is set to last several weeks, calling it "ridiculous". 

Part of the B1112 Eriswell Road has been closed for Anglian Water works since July 25, with the closure set to remain in place until August 31. 

A resident of the west Suffolk village has voiced their anger over the closure and its impact on the community. 

"What Anglian Water have done is to close the main access road in and out of Lakenheath. If you wanted to go to Bury, Mildenhall, Newmarket, anywhere down the A11 they have closed the main access," they said.

"The detour they have given as the proper one is about 30 miles which is impossible.

"Lakenheath is quite an elderly community as well so the detour is worrying for ambulances. It is absolutely not on, it is ridiculous."

The resident, who asked not to be named, said some people had opted to move the metal and plastic barriers that were in place as they said work had not yet started.

Concrete barriers have now been put up at the site.

Anglian Water said works were initially delayed by a nuclear weapons protest and, since then, have started as soon as possible. 

A spokesperson for the water company said: "Our teams are currently laying 650m of water pipes in Lakenheath – which will prevent leaks and interruptions to customers’ water supply.

"We’re using efficient engineering techniques, such as directional drilling, which means we don’t have to dig the road up, helping minimise how long the work takes.

"In order to keep our engineers and other road users safe while we work, we have closed the B1112 Eriswell Road, with a fully signposted diversion in place.

"We appreciate this will cause some inconvenience for local residents, so we’d like to thank them for bearing with us while we carry out this important upgrade to their local water network."