Two of Ottery St Mary’s major roads will return to normal on Friday lunchtime (November 23).

Two of Ottery St Mary’s major roads will return to normal on Friday lunchtime (November 23).

Silver Street and Brook Street had been closed since September’s fire and there were initial concerns they could be out of action until December.

A spokesperson for Devon County Council said: “The contractor carrying out the work says they’re expecting that all traffic management at Broad Street through to Silver Street will be removed by midday tomorrow and it will be open to two-way traffic as normal.”

Claire Wright, councillor of the Otter Valley Ward, added: “We expected the road to be out of use until mid December, so it was great to see the work had progressed to open with traffic lights last week, which has mostly been very successful.

“The reopening of the road is wonderful news both for residents and businesses. Our local shops had particularly felt the impact of the road closure.

“We’re now happily back to normal well in time for Christmas which is great news and my thanks go to the builders, insurers and property owners for their speedy work in order to get one of Ottery’s main routes reopened again so quickly, after such a devastating fire.”