TRAFFIC heading into and out of Wellington on the B3187 faces a fortnight of hold-ups while roadworks in connection with the new Lidl supermarket are carried out.

Temporary traffic lights went up this week at the Cades roundabout to allow engineers to begin connecting sewers to the Lidl site in Nynehead Road.

The controversial 22,500 sq ft supermarket was given planning permission in April of last year and is due to open this spring.

It is being built on land off the Cades Farm estate roundabout which was allocated for employment use and earmarked for the relocation of Wellington’s two largest employers, Relyon and KDC/One Swallowfield.

However, neither company has agreed to move from their existing sites off Station Road and Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) decided that if they did want to relocate then it would be able to find other suitable land.

Lidl said it would create five full-time and 35 part-time jobs in its Wellington store, equivalent in total to 23 full-time posts, and would stop shoppers having to travel to Taunton for their cheap shopping baskets.

When it is finished, the road into the Lidl site will also be used as access to a planned new housing estate and commercial development alongside the main Westcountry to Paddington railway line.

The proposals, which have yet to go to SWT, will also allow for Wellington’s new railway station to be built there, which is scheduled to be open by May, 2025.

The work on Lidl’s sewer connections will see two sets of temporary traffic lights controlling vehicle movements on the Cades roundabout and in Nynehead Road, while a third set will affect Torres Vedras Drive.

The sewer work is scheduled to continue until January 21.