Work on a busy road in Swindon is expected to continue into the afternoon after the deadline to re-open was missed.

On Thursday, National Highways announced that it had found what it described as “a safety critical pothole” on the A419 over the Commonhead Roundabout.

The has been closed since 4am it had been hoped that the road would reopen as normal at 10am.

However, it has now been discovered that the pothole is a lot deeper than first thought as a result more work is required.

A spokesperson for National Highways said: “The pothole repair required deeper excavation than originally planned, and the road will be reopened as soon as it’s safe to do so, by early afternoon.”

At present both lanes of the carriageway ar closed prior to the roundabout, with northbound traffic diverted down the Commonhead exit slip road to re-join the A419 via the entry slip road.

UPDATE: the A419 is now fully reopen after extensive repairs to the carriageway defect.