If you were heading on the M5 and thinking you would have THIS to contend with too you can relax.

National Highways has postponed this weekend's planned installation of the new Michaelwood Services footbridge between junctions 13 and 14 of the M5 in Gloucestershire.

Preparatory work has been ongoing since February as part of a £3.2 million replacement project, and a new bridge footbridge and fittings were planned to be installed between Saturday, 25 June and Monday, 4 July to enable access between the southbound and northbound areas of the services.

The footbridge deck was due to be lifted into place this Saturday under a full overnight closure of the M5 between Junction 13 (Stroud) and Junction 14 (Thornbury) from 8pm to 6am on Sunday, 26 June.

Due to steel galvanising issues with sections of the steel bridge span, this has now been postponed, along with the following week of overnight closures to install ramps, stairs and other fittings.

The work to lift the main span into place has now been provisionally scheduled for overnight on Saturday, 2 July, with further fitting works provisionally programmed to take place under overnight southbound and northbound closures between 17 July and 20 July. 

National Highways Project Manager Adrian Simon said: "Due to circumstances out of our control, the bridge span will not be ready in time for the proposed installation due to galvanising quality issues within the steelwork.

"We understand people need to plan their journeys and apologise for any confusion caused by the postponement of this weekend's closure.

"We're disappointed that we've been forced to take the decision to delay this important work but it is essential for the steelwork to be in the correct condition before installation.

"We have now scheduling new dates for the bridge installation and the fitting of ramps and stairs, and we will ensure the works are carried out overnight, when traffic volumes are lower, to minimise disruption to the travelling public and businesses."

In the meantime, people can find out more about National Highways' work in the South West by logging on to https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/south-west/