AN error by designers has led to the time being taken to complete road works near Stonehenge being more than doubled to almost a year.

Changes are being made to the junction at Airman’s Corner on the A344 and A360 to put in a new roundabout as part of the plans for the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.

The work started on July 9 and was supposed to take 23 weeks but throughout February drivers noticed signs being changed one by one to say the work will take 49 weeks.

According to a reliable source, the contractors carrying out the redesign on behalf of English Heritage made a mistake in measurements when carrying out the survey.

They then had to rework the plans, but as the temporary traffic lights were already in place they decided not to remove them while they fixed the error.

The road works are causing delays and people have been left angry by the news they will now take longer than planned.

David Graney from Shrewton, who has to travel through the temporary traffic lights daily on his way to work, said the road works add an average of ten minutes to his journey, and on occasions he has been stuck there for as long as 40 minutes, when the queue has gone all the way back to Shrewton.

He said: “It’s not right that they can just double the time without any warning or announcement whatsoever. There isn’t really an alternative route for people living in Shrewton.

“We had all resigned ourselves to the 23 weeks and kind of got used to it but now it won’t be gone until the summer.

How can it take 49 weeks to put in a roundabout?”

An English Heritage spokesman said: “There have been some unexpected design and construction issues with the building of the roundabout and the programme of works is longer than originally anticipated. The new dates have been posted on signs on the highway in accordance with statutory procedures. We apologise for any inconvenience caused due to these unforeseen circumstances.”