The road between Richmond Bridge and the town centre is to be closed for three weeks.

The closure, which is to allow Thames Water to deal with a water leak, is expected to cause major jams on the route between Twickenham and Richmond.

Cars and buses will be sent on a circuitous diversion around Richmond, which will create delays for people heading to the shops, offices and rail station.

The work will start on Wednesday, March 1, and is due to run for three weeks, however Thames Water has a shocking record in the borough for failing to complete work on time.

It has been fined some 350 times by the Council over the past four years for failing to complete works on schedule.

Currently, the road over Richmond Bridge is already jammed in the morning and evening peak and this is likely to be exacerbated by the road closure on

Hill Street in the northbound direction, between Richmond Bridge and Water Lane.

Traffic driving over the bridge towards Richmond town centre will not be able to turn left. Instead, vehicles will be diverted right through to the Petersham Road out towards Star & Garter Hill.

They would then turn left on a circuitous route up towards Queen Road through towards the Sheen Road on the other side of Richmond before swinging back to the town centre.

It seems likely that some drivers will try to take a short-cut by driving up the narrow Richmond Hill road towards Richmond Park before turning left towards the town centre.

Traffic coming from Petersham will be diverted left over Richmond Bridge towards St Margarets Road and the A316 before coming back to the town centre via Richmond Circus.