Work is to begin shortly on a project to repair the distinctive brick and stone wall supporting the raised walkway on a section of The Mall at Newport.

As well as repointing sections of the retaining wall, the Island Roads work will also see some sections of the railing repaired.

The work on the stretch between Drill Hall Road and Castle Street monument will be undertaken during the day at weekends, including Sundays, and at night during weekdays. The timing of work has been agreed in order to reduce disruption as two-way lights will be required during work periods. Given that the bulk of the work is repointing, there should be little or no noise disturbance to residents.

The project will begin on the morning of Saturday February 11 and continue through the day on Sunday. During the following week, work will be undertaken from 7.30pm, probably until around midnight, Monday to Friday. If required, work will then be undertaken during the day on Saturday February 18 and Sunday February 19. Please note that any adverse weather could affect the duration of the scheme.

Councillor Jon Gilbey, IW Council executive member for major contracts management and responsible for the Highways PFI, said: “This work is required to repair and strengthen this distinctive wall.

“This is of course a busy stretch of road and I am very pleased that Island Roads have scheduled the project during a quieter time of the year and also at weekends and evenings, hopefully this will minimize the impact to residents during peak communing times of the day.”