Helston will avoid predicted gridlock on Flora Day after Cornwall Council agreed to temporarily reopen the main road to Penzance for one day.

Cornwall Council and Cormac are aiming to temporarily reopen both lanes of the A394 at Sithney Common Hill on May 8, after concerns were raised about traffic issues on Helston’s busiest day.

PC Anne Butcher told the annual town meeting earlier this month that work was due to start on the road at the end of April and take four months to complete, after around 150 metres of supporting wall collapsed in January.

She had said the problem was “not going to go away,” and that the town was “stuck with it through the summer,”

adding “I can only see Helston being gridlocked.”

However, in a recently released statement a spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Following agreement with the landowner, CORMAC crews will carry out temporary stabilisation works on the eastbound lane from Monday 20 April.”

Cormac has also said the eastbound lane will have to re-close if the road begins to deteriorate, and repair work will start in earnest on Monday, May 11, during which time traffic will be back to one lane.

During the town meeting, concerns were also raised over the reliability of the traffic lights controlling the direction of traffic along road, as one resident said they “seem to be always breaking down,” sometimes meaning they are always on green or always on red in both directions, although PC Butcher said that would be a highways issue.

At a meeting of the Town Council on Thursday, Cornwall Councillor Phil Martin said he had recently monitored the timing of the traffic lights, and in all but the busiest times during the Easter holidays traffic had been getting past in around five minutes, adding “we’ve got to bear with it.”