Motorists are being sent on a 41-mile diversion because of a 65ft stretch of roadworks.

The small section of the A352 in Godmanstone, Dorset, will be closed between Monday and Friday next week for work on a sewage system.

Just over 65ft of the carriageway will be closed off by workmen but Dorset County Council have given an official diversion measuring an incredible 41 miles that goes via another county.

The usual route along the road takes around a second to cover while traveling at the 30mph speed limit.

The council's diversion is estimated to take around an hour to complete - 3,600 times the usual duration of the journey.

The diversion route will take motorists along the A352 to Charlton Down and Charminster before taking the A37 towards Grimstone.

It then follows the A37, crossing the county border into Yeovil, Somerset before joining the A30 towards Sherborne and heading back into Dorset.

Drivers will then head back south, passing through the villages Middlemarsh, Minterne Magna and Cerne Abbas. Anyone caught using the closed stretch of road will be handed a £1,000 fine.

The council say the lengthy detour is necessary as it 'has to be suitable for the type of traffic that would normally use the closed section'.