Selby Dam Bridge is set to close for 12 weeks next month, bringing traffic misery to thousands of motorists travelling through the town centre.

The closure, starting on Saturday, February 18, is part of the final phase of the £18 million scheme to improve flood protection in Selby and Barlby.

The works will shut down a major arterial route through the town centre, forcing all traffic coming from Wistow Road in the north to use the already-congested Scott Road, which runs down to the western end of Gowthorpe.

Councillors said the work was a necessarily evil. Coun Steve Shaw-Wright, who represents Selby North ward, said: "It's going to be a real pain. One of the problems we've had with this is that the Environment Agency keeps postponing the work. But it's one of those things that needs doing."

The closure will allow the Environment Agency to work on aligning the Dam Bridge's parapet walls with the recently-built flood defences. The project will also include improvements to the walkway across the bridge.

Project manager Anthony Myatt said: "This is the last phase of the Selby flood defence scheme and the last time we will have to call on the patience of local residents.

"We will do all we can to complete the work as quickly as possible, but disruption to traffic from the diversion is inevitable."

The final phase of the flood protection plan runs from the former toll bridge to Selby Lock along Ousegate going south and from the former toll bridge to the railway bridge, behind Barlby Bridge Primary School, going north.