The M48 Severn Bridge will be closed to all traffic this weekend (June 25 and 26) for the first stage of works to inspect the suspension cable and monitor corrosion.

The bridge will be closed from 7pm on Friday, June 24, to 6am on Monday, June 27, - weather conditions depending - to enable the lifting of an inspection gantry to a high level on the suspension cable.

Chris Pope, project manager for National Highways, said: "The inspections are vital to allow us to understand the current condition of the suspension cables and confirm that the measures that we implemented over the last 15 years have been effective in ensuring the long-term viability of the bridge and the safety of its users.

"We have been working in conjunction with our contractor Amey, and the weekend closures have been planned to avoid any major events both sides of the bridge.

"Agreed diversion routes are in place and we are not envisaging a major impact on our road users."

To carry out these cable inspections and to ensure the safety of both the public and workforce, long-term lane closures will be put in place, with the westbound closure put in place this week.

The inspection works will involve the closure of one lane westbound from the 22 June and one eastbound starting from July, with the works lasting for around eight months.

During the period of lane closures, vehicles over 2.9 metres wide will be prohibited from using the M48 Severn Bridge, and the bridge will also be closed totally over three weekends to enable the lifting of the inspection gantries to a high level on the suspension cable.

To minimise any future disruption, maintenance work will also be undertaken during the closures, including refurbishment and maintenance of many bridge expansion joints, carriageway surfacing repairs, reinstatement of some under bridge gantry bogies and wheels, sweeping and litter picking, blasting and painting of parapets and lighting column bases, weld repairs, carriageway inspections, and gulley and drain cleaning.

For the duration of the weekend closure, diversion routes will be in place across the M4 Second Severn Crossing.

Chris added: "We understand this work may cause some inconvenience and disruption, but we are making every effort to ensure the impact on drivers is kept to a minimum.

"This will help us to keep the bridge safe to use for the long-term future."