A major footbridge into Marlow is set to be taken away at the weekend for repairs, causing the A404 to be closed in both directions.

Highways England will carry out essential maintenance to the Volvo footbridge, which will require it to be taken away for up to six weeks and cause the closure of the north and south carriageways of the A404, between the junction with the A4155, just outside Marlow, and the Bisham roundabout.

It will be closed from 9pm on Friday (August 31) and reopen at 5am on Monday (September 3).

The bridge requires work to the staircases and repainting and Transport for Bucks said it is not possible to do the work at the site.

Marlow’s historic bridge was also set to be closed over the weekend but it will now instead be manned at all times by gatemen provided by Highways England to deter overweight vehicles from attempting to divert via the three-tonne weight restricted bridge while the A404 is closed.

Parkway, which was also set to be closed, will remain open over the weekend but Highways England will need to close it for periods of up to 15 minutes on Saturday while the crane is lifting the bridge and staircases. These closures will be controlled by Stop/Go boards.

The footbridge is expected to be reinstalled in October, with weekend A404 closures taking place again between 9pm on October 12 until 5am on October 15.

All traffic will be diverted via Henley-on-Thames and traffic on the M4 going towards the M40 – and vice versa – will be diverted via the M4, M25 and M40.

An alternative route will be provided for pedestrians who would normally use the bridge to get between Marlow and Westhorpe Park.

The route can be found on the Bucks County Council website and is expected to take around 15 minutes.