PART of a major Southampton roundabout will be closed tonight.

City road bosses say the closure of part of Redbridge Roundabout tonight is expected to cause "some delays".

The closure will be to allow engineers to remove the current old footbridge over the roundabout and look to complete the work by the evening of Saturday, July 20.

The closure will mean traffic coming into Southampton via the M271 will be diverted off the motorway and into the city, which has sparked a warning of potential “gridlock”.

It comes as thousands of people flock to the city to take part in a giant inflatable course Gung-Ho! on Southampton Common tomorrow morning.

Highways England say the “unavoidable” closure will allow engineers to demolish the footbridge over the north-eastern side of the roundabout.

Highways chiefs say they plan to install a new “wider and less steep” bridge later this year.

The demolition work will block southbound traffic on the M271 travelling towards the A33, Redbridge Road.

Highways bosses plan to divert traffic off the M271 at junction one for Brownhill Way and in the direction of Lordshill.

Traffic will then be diverted down Romsey Road and onto Tebourba Way.

Drivers travelling from the east will be diverted off the M27 at junction five, for Eastleigh, onto Winchester Road and also onto Tebourba Way.

Highways England have said that walking and cycling routes across the junction will be maintained throughout construction.

The have ensured that the existing footbridge will only be removed once the alternative surface level walking route is in place.

The work is part of a major Highways England improvement project, which is set to cost between £8.5 million and £15.5 million,

The project includes adding an extra lane to ease congestion for vehicles travelling from the motorway to the city centre and the port.

The work began in May and is expected to run until Spring 2020.

It comes just weeks after Highways England closed part of the M27 near Southampton to install a new road bridge.