A Marlow landmark that has fallen into disrepair is finally set to get a £20,000 makeover – but the work could cause “chaos” for drivers in the town centre for three weeks.

The Grade II listed obelisk, which sits at the centre of the roundabout at the top of the High Street, was erected in 1822 as a waypoint marker for travelling coaches and has deteriorated in recent years with whole sections of stone lettering having crumbled and broken away.

After years of campaigning from The Marlow Society and councillors, Bucks County Council has finally agreed to carry out the necessary repair work to the historic structure.

However, Steve Underwood, area technician at Transport for Bucks, warned that the work would require traffic lights to be installed throughout the duration of the works and would have a big impact on traffic in the town centre.

He said: “The team will re-do the panels where the engraving has come off and it will all be re-engraved. It is going to be chaos for a time because there will need to be traffic lights as scaffolding will be in the middle of the road around the obelisk.

“We can’t close the road while we carry this work out because it would be complete and utter chaos for three weeks, so we are going to have to work around the traffic.

“It will jam everything up but it has been in the pipeline and needing to be done for years.”

Martin Blunkell, chairman of the Marlow Society, said he was “delighted” that the work was finally being carried out after five years of campaigning.

He said: “We have been trying for a long time to get the refurbishment work included in the county council budget so this is very good news.

“We will provide Bucks County Council with the full details of the inscriptions and photographs because they are no longer visible.

“We welcome the efforts of our county councillors who have kept up the pressure on the council and supported our desire to see this important Grade II listed structure restored.”

A spokesman for Transport for Bucks said they were “pleased” to be making renovations to the 19th century obelisk and confirmed that the work would be carried out before the end of October this year.

They said: “A specific date for the work has not yet been fixed, but when it has the local businesses and residents will be notified in advance. The works will take around three weeks to complete, and while they are in progress there will be 3-way traffic lights in place around the site.

“The lights will be in operation 24-hours a day throughout the work, and short delays will be expected in the area.

“The renovation will primarily focus on repairing deteriorated stonework and careful cleaning of the iconic, Grade II listed Obelisk. The work will be carried out by a specialist contractor to ensure the integrity and character of the obelisk is preserved.”

The monolith was part of a turnpike route between Hatfield, Wycombe, Marlow and Bath, with the journey made by travellers who wanted to take the benefit of the spa waters in Bath and became known as the ‘Gout Route’.