PLANS to revamp a major roundabout in Basingstoke have been given the green light.

Work will start on £19 million upgrades to Brighton Hill roundabout in the late Autumn of 2021 after Hampshire County Council approved the plans on Thursday.

It will see traffic lights placed on all arms and the subways filled in, to be replaced by surface toucan crossings.

Cllr Rob Humby, HCC's deputy leader, said after making the decision: “Brighton Hill Roundabout is a key junction on the A30 South West Corridor and suffers significant peak period congestion which will be further exacerbated by future increases in travel along the corridor.

"These improvements form a further phase in the A30 South West Corridor for growth and Hampshire County Council’s strategy for improving access to Basingstoke.

"The improvements will build on and complement the improvements at the Winchester Road roundabout, together with further potential improvements on the corridor, including strategic cycle facilities, Mass Rapid Transit and targeted road capacity improvements.”

The scheme was dealt a blow last year when Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council rejected plans for a controversial link road running through the Camrose football stadium.

Councillors decided that the loss of the football stadium had not been properly mitigated, meaning HCC had to reassess its plans for the roundabout upgrades.

The link road was to be constructed to allow the council to close the Western Way entrance on the roundabout, after fears that it was dangerous. However, it will now remain open.

The plans to drop the Camrose link road had been welcomed by Labour councillor and Brighton Hill South representative Cllr Andy McCormick, who said: "If they are going to keep Western Way open then it will take a hit in terms of traffic but it means that there is every possibility that the football club can go back to the Camrose which good news.

"On the whole it is probably going to be a better thing for the residents of South Ham but there might be a bit of a hit on the traffic throughput."

But he had raised concerns over the council's plans to replace the subways with surface traffic-light controlled crossings at gradient, adding: "This thing isn't going to be cheap, but it is important that we get that aspect of it right."

Work had been due to begin on the works to the notorious roundabout last year, but they were delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Road works on Brighton Hill roundabout are due to take two yers.

The £19.3 million scheme will be funded from the Local Growth Fund by the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership, as well as developers contributions and funds from Hampshire County Council.