JUST when they thought they were out of the woods, businesses and residents in Wantage face another three months of disruption from gas roadworks.

Gas distribution firm SGN, which finished 16 weeks of work replacing pipes in Mill Street on Sunday, has now moved on to another major artery, Denchworth Road.

The company will completely close the road between the Camel roundabout and Littleworth Hill for up to four weeks to replace underground gas mains.

After the road reopens, temporary traffic lights will be in operation until the middle of March as pipes between Camel roundabout and the Stockham roundabout are replaced. The company will then start work in Ham Road for two weeks.

Meanwhile, separate plans are being drawn up to resurface the Market Place, Mill Street and Newbury Street during the summer.

For firms in the town centre whose footfall was hit by the Mill Street closure, the work could mean more disruption.

Wantage Chamber of Commerce president Richard Shepherd said businesses were trying to ramp up their marketing to compensate.

Mr Shepherd, managing director of the Motorlux car dealership in Wallingford Street, said: “It has had an impact: I was talking to retailers in Mill Street last week – they are directly affected, but even in the Market Place is has had quite an effect.

“It is taking its toll, but people are upbeat – they are trying different marketing strategies.”

When the Mill Street work was announced in September, traders such as the Buzz Cafe and M&A electricals asked why the firm could not have done the project in the summer when business was quieter, and Mr Shepherd echoed that.

He added: “There is never a good time, but it would have been better in August.”

Alastair Stuart, who runs Abivale veterinary surgery off Denchworth Road, said he had not even heard about the planned closure until Sunday.

Mr Stuart, who lives above the surgery, said: “It’s going to be a thorough nuisance.”

A spokeswoman for SGN thanked Wantage residents and said when engineers moved beyond Littleworth Hill they would manually operate traffic lights to manage traffic at peak times.

Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, is planning to meet Wantage town councillors to discuss timings for the resurfacing work and ways to minimise disruption.