A ROBOT will be used for gas mains repairs to cut disruption to a major road.

Gas company SGN will use the CISBOT robot to seal the joints in the pipes under Brighton’s Western Road.

Work will start on Monday for six weeks - but the underground robot will reduce the amount of disruption to traffic on the busy city centre route.

The innovative robot can travel approximately 170 metres in each direction from a single hole, so long trenches in the road are not needed to access pipes.

Repairs to the stretch from Crown Street to North Street should disrupt just the space of two bus stops outside Churchill Square.

SGN engineering manager Casey Everitt said: “By using our innovative CISBOT robot to seal the joints along the inside of our gas main, we’re able to minimise disruption for road users and residents while we upgrade our network.

“The robot works underground and upgrades the gas main from the inside, which means we don’t require long trenches along the road to access the pipe.

“Instead, we can upgrade a large section of our network from just one excavation.

“Less digging means we can complete this essential work more quickly.

“What’s more, the robot works inside the live gas pipe, so there’s no need to interrupt gas supplies as we work.”

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of Brighton and Hove City Council transport committee said: “Reducing the impact of roadworks is a priority for us. So our traffic team have been liaising closely with SGN.

“The robot looks like a smart way of working in our busiest streets.

“This is extra important this year as Southern Water will also be relaying the surface of North Street next autumn so we must make every effort to keep transport systems moving during these essential works.”

The works are part of a £525,000 project to ensure a safe and reliable gas supply.

Two westbound bus stops outside Churchill Square will be suspended during the works and temporary traffic lights will be in use in Western Road at the junction with Regent Hill.

Bus passengers and taxi drivers are braced for gridlock when major roadworks in North Street will start in the autumn.

No exact date has yet been set for the works to repair the road surface following successive slapdash attempts to fix waterpipes.

When the water main was originally replaced in 2007, but the replacement surface was not strong enough to cope. Traders said repairs in 2012 lost them business.

Brighton and Hove Bus Company refused to send vehicles down the road in 2015 because the surface was badly damaged, then blamed a drop of more than a million journeys on roadworks.