THE planned closure of a road through  the centre of a village near York appears to have been postponed - at the very last minute.

Villagers in Wheldrake were braced for Main Street to close for six days from today to allow for 'large patching'.

But the anticipated closure at 9.30am this morning didn't happen; and now a notice has appeared on Causeway one.network suggesting the closure has been postponed until August 15.

The Press has sought urgent clarification from City of York Council which ordered the road closure, originally due to be in force between 9.30am and 3pm for six days from today.

Wheldrake parish council chair Graeme Urwin said today nobody in the village had been notified that the road closure would not be going ahead - and said it was still unclear whether bus companies had been informed.

One of the main concerns for villagers was that bus services operating through Wheldrake - the East Yorkshire No 18 bus service and York Pullman’s My36 service - would not be operating during the hours when the road was closed, leaving them effectively cut off.

"We don't even know whether the bus companies have been notified (that the road closure has been delayed)," Cllr Urwin said. "It is pathetic."

As reported earlier, frustrated villagers in Wheldrake feared they faced being cut off from their bus service for a week because of the road closure.

They said they couldn't understand why the whole of the street had to be closed in one go - and that the repairs could have been done one lane at a time, with temporary traffic lights allowing access to vehicles on the half of the road not being repaired.

One fed-up Wheldrake villager said: “Residents without cars are concerned that there will be no bus service for Wheldrake between 9.30am and 3pm for a week.

“Those with cars on Main Street and Church Lane are (also) worried that it will create difficulties for on street parking and that this may affect access to the village shop.

“A traffic control system would have avoided these issues.”

Lesley Hardcastle, who runs the Country Living campsite at Thorganby, said it wasn’t only Wheldrake villagers who would be impacted.

Her own business would be affected. Many customers booked a place at her campsite knowing they would be able to get a bus into York each day, she said.

But the road closure meant that for a whole week they wouldn't be able to, she said. “What am I supposed to do?” 

Wheldrake ward councillor Christian Vassie said today he had received no notification that the planned closure of the road had been postponed.

He said City of York Council needed to let people in the village know as soon as possible what was happening - and, if the roadworks had been postponed, whether the bus companied had been notified so that bus routes could be restored.

"The lack of communication has been appalling," he said. "The fact that the parish council has heard nothing, the elected member has heard nothing, residents have heard nothing, just is not good enough.

"There is fury about this on social media. The council needs to communicate with elected members and residents as soon as possible."

Cllr Vassie said it wasn't clear exactly what the roadworks would involve, even when they did begin.

If it is simply 'large patching' rather than a complete resurfacing, as suggested on the Causeway one.network website, then it should be possible for the work to be done in short stretches rather than the whole road being closed, he said - minimising disruption.