Council agrees to repair road closed for two years

A council has agreed to repair a key road which has been closed for two years after a landslip damaged a supporting wall.

Devon County Council said it would carry out the works on Warfleet Road in Dartmouth after the wall owner's insurer said it would not.

The road has been shut to traffic since February 2024 after the wall collapsed below road level, making the road unsafe and a four-mile (6.4km) diversion has been in place since.

Councillor Dan Thomas said the council, which added it had no cost estimates or timescales for the work, had been "patient and followed due process but our patience has now been exhausted".

The council said the road could not be repaired until the wall, which is privately-owned, was made safe.

Councillors said they had initially been told the landowner's insurer would manage the repairs but late last year they heard the insurer would not be doing so.

Local councillor for Dartmouth and Marldon, Simon Rake, acknowledged residents' and businesses' frustration and said he wanted to see the road "reopened as soon as possible".

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