MOTORISTS have been warned disruption is expected - with a city centre coming to a near standstill - as tens of thousands of visitors converge for the forthcoming light spectacular.

As the fifth staging of Lumiere, the UK’s largest light festival, approaches in mid-November, visitors heading to Durham are being urged to plan their journeys to make the most of travel options available.

Similarly, commuters who pass through the city on their journey to work across the county, are being told to expect significant disruption during the four days of the biennial festival and are urged to seek alternative routes.

Barriers will be in place on Milburngate Bridge, carrying the A690 through road over the River Wear, to ease pedestrian access.

But it will lead to the closure of one lane on the eastbound carriageway, between Milburngate and Leazes Bowl roundabouts for the duration of the event, from November 16 to 19, with signed diversions in place.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 spaces will be available across Durham County Council’s park and ride sites on the outskirts of the city, sponsored by car retailer Motorpoint.

As well as the usual sites at Belmont, Howlands and Sniperley, additional facilities will be available at New College Durham, Merryoaks, and Annand House, at Meadowfield.

Regular shuttle bus services will run to and from the city centre, with extra stops during the festival, to allow people to explore the 29 lighting installations across the city, from different start and finish locations.

Services will run until 11.30pm each night and the car parks will remain open all night. The usual £2 charge applies, but it is free to under 16s.

Dave Wafer, the council’s strategic traffic manager, said: “This is the fifth time we have hosted Lumiere and we fully anticipate many tens of thousands of people will come once again to celebrate our fantastic city with us.

“That also means a lot of vehicles so we very much hope the majority of people will take advantage of the extensive park and ride facilities and help themselves to steer clear of any traffic jams. The vast majority of visitors during the event will be heading to the festival but for those who are not, we strongly advise them to take a different route over those four days. Everyone will be very aware of the need for safety measures to be in place and we thank people in advance for their patience and support during Lumiere.”

He urged people coming to Durham to follow #LumiereDurham before and during the event to help to direct them to the available spaces available.

Apart from the barriers on Milburngate Bridge, there will also be a number of road and footpath closures leading up to and during the festival which will limit access to Durham’s peninsula, plus other parts of the city centre.

Some of these are also expected to add to the disruption.

A full list of park and ride sites, road and footpath closures, parking bay suspensions and other useful information for event-goers is available at the festival website, durham.gov.uk/Lumiere