DORSET Council has mapped out a 41-mile diversion route – for a 65ft stretch of road.

A small section of the A352 in Godmanstone, north of Dorchester, will be closed between Monday and Friday next week for work on a sewage system.

Just over 65ft of the carriageway will be shut for the works. However, officials have planned a whopping official diversion route which will take motorists on a 41-mile drive.

The usual route along the road takes less than two seconds to cover while travelling at the 30mph speed limit. Those who take the proper diversion will add an hour to their journey.

Drivers following the diversion will travel along the A352 to Charlton Down and Charminster before taking the A37 towards Grimstone.

The diversion then follows the A37, crossing the county border into Yeovil, Somerset, before joining the A30 towards Sherborne and heading back into Dorset.

Drivers will then head back south, passing through the villages Middlemarsh, Minterne Magna and Cerne Abbas.

Anyone caught using the closed stretch of road will be handed a £1,000 fine.

Dorset Council say the lengthy detour is necessary because it "has to be suitable for the type of traffic that would normally use the closed section".

Officials say the diversion had to use A roads. Locals would be likely to ignore the diversion and use smaller roads to get around the work.

A spokesman for the council said: "The closure has been requested to allow Dorset Drainage Services to make a sewer connection within the highway.

"The official diversion has to be suitable for the type of traffic that would normally use the closed section.

"This is an A road so we have used other A roads for the diversion.

"Smaller local traffic will undoubtedly use lower classified roads to bypass the closure."