PEDESTRIANS are risking their lives by crossing the busy A303 because an underpass is flooded.

The tunnel that leads under the dual carriageway at Countess Roundabout is unusable because of high levels of water.

The flood stretches about 20 meters and is more than 50cm deep.

Amesbury town councillor Roger Fisher said that the north of Amesbury has been cut off from the other side of the town as there is only one pedestrian tunnel under the road.

“The problem is that you have people taking terrible risks trying to cross the A303,” he said.

“It’s obviously an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

“Luckily no one has been hurt yet but this needs to be sorted out as quickly as possible.

“There is only one underpass – otherwise you have to go a very long way round.

“It is very well used by people wanting to walk into Amesbury town centre from north side of the A303 and also from Durrington.”

The problem was reported to the Highways Agency, which is responsible for the underpass, on Monday.

“I would have thought this would be a priority, but no one has taken action yet,” said cllr Fisher.

“This really needs to be sorted out.”

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “We have encountered a series of problems at the Countess Roundabout, which has been made significantly worse by high groundwater levels.

“The automatic pump at the site failed on Monday which then caused a power supply failure. When water levels rose we instructed our sub-contractors to use temporary pumps and they have pumped out the water on several occasions since the original failure.

“A new automatic pump has been despatched and will be installed as soon as possible. In the meantime we are monitoring the situation and temporary pumps are being used as the need arises.

“We are doing everything possible to mitigate this problem as soon as possible.”