Delays are set to face drivers at Cooper's Hill as workmen prepare to start work on the A46.

Gloucestershire Highways will be closing a 15-metre stretch of the route tomorrow, and will be using temporary traffic lights to keep traffic flowing with minimum disruption for two days.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: "This carriageway defect is the result of continued ground movement under the road since the floods of July 2007. This movement is being continually monitored by on-site instrumentation.

"This instrumentation was put in place during an in-depth geotechnical investigation of a 250m section of Coopers Hill, carried out last year as part of an ongoing scheme to ensure the long-term stability of the route.

"The scheme is part of a £3M investment by Gloucestershire County Council, partly funded by the Department for Transport, as part of the Flood Relief Grant following the floods of July 2007."

He added: "Further investigation and maintenance works to the drainage and verges will take place during the rest of this year, and in advance of the main construction repair works scheduled for 2010."

The work is due to continue until the end of Friday.