Road, junction and bus stop closures and interrupted water supply will cause months of disruption near three schools while hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of mains replacement is carried out, a supplier has warned.

The water mains renewals between Leatherhead and Ashtead could last until next summer, with work being carried out in two phases near Downsend School, St Andrew’s Catholic School and St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, SES Water advised.

The company is investing £465,000 in water mains renewal in Grange Road and Ottways Lane to “cope with the demand of an increasing local population, which is heightened by an increase in developments in the area,” a spokesperson stated.

Work in Grange Road started this week, and the road is expected to remain closed until September before the schools return for the start of the new term.

The site set-up in nearby Ottways Lane is due to start in the week commencing September 4, SES Water advised, with work due to last until summer 2018.

“We plan to phase our works accordingly by working on smaller sections of the road in a bid to reduce disruption,” a spokesperson added.

Roads will be closed while work is carried out, with traffic diverted along the A24 Leatherhead Road and the street engineers are not working in.

Residents will also experience temporary interruptions of between 30 minutes and an hour while their homes are connected to the new water main, a spokesperson advised.

“We will make sure those customers whose water supply is directly affected by these works are notified in advance,” the spokesperson added.

For more information, visit seswater.co.uk/grangeandottways