The M5 motorway will close fully overnight between junction 13 and 14 on June 25, to allow for a new bridge to be lifted into place at Michaelwood Services.

A 40-year-old footbridge spanning the southbound and northbound carriageways connecting the two areas of the service station was closed to pedestrians in 2018 and dismantled in early 2020.

National Highways has been undertaking preparatory work since February at the site as part of a £3.2 million replacement project.

The next step of the scheme is to install a new footbridge between Saturday, June 25 and Monday, July 4.

Once complete, the new footbridge will give pedestrians access between the southbound and northbound areas of the services.

National Highways said a 230-tonne crane will be used to slot the new 200ft (61-metre) footbridge into place and during the work, the M5 will be fully closed in both directions between Junction 13 (Stroud) and Junction 14 (Thornbury) from 8pm on June 25 until 6am on June 26.

Diversions will be in place via the A419 and A38 Bristol Road, and drivers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.

After the main bridge has been installed, contractors MJ Church and King Lifting will use two 200-tonne cranes to lift the ramps and stairs into place during further overnight closures during the following week.

For these works, the southbound carriageway will also be closed overnight on the Sunday (8pm to 6am) and Friday, July 1 and Monday, July 4, while the northbound carriageway will be closed for overnight work on Monday, June 27, Tuesday, June 28 and Thursday, June 30. The same diversion routes will apply.

Adrian Simon, National Highways' project manager, said: "We appreciate the closure will have an effect on journey times, and we appreciate roadworks are frustrating but we are carrying out this essential work under a number of overnight closures to minimise disruption.

"Once the main deck has been installed on the first night, we are putting a number of directional closures in place for safety reasons while we carry out the installation of ramps, stairs and other work, and we thank all drivers in advance for their co-operation and patience."

Once these steps of the bridge replacement are complete, finishing works will continue until August, including the completion of furnishing and fittings and landscaping.