A BRIDGE in Cockermouth's town centre has been forced to close following damage after the recent floods.

Cracks have appeared on the surface of Cocker Bridge, which connects Market Place to Main Street. It was closed on Saturday and diversions set up by Cumbria County Council.

Dive teams were due to be there yesterday or today, inspecting the foundations of the 192-year-old structure.

A county council spokesman said: "The closure at the moment is a precaution. We're trying to get dive teams in to assess the situation.

"There was an extremely high volume of water and debris under the bridge during the recent flooding. The foundations of the bridge can get undercut, so we need to see if there is evidence of under water damage.

"We appreciate the disruption the closure will cause, but public safety is our top priority."

Residents and those wanting to access the town's community hospital, secondary school and the many shops and businesses in Market Place face a detour via the A66 and Embleton. Pedestrians can use Waterloo Bridge and South Street bridge, which reopened this week.

Repair work is also being carried out beside the historic Old Courthouse, which is next to Cocker Bridge and was evacuated earlier this month after it was damaged by flood water and debris.

A large section of bank by the building and in front of a nearby flood wall in the grounds of the former police station crumbled under the force of the water and debris.

Matt Crump, Cumbria’s operations manager for the Environment Agency, said: "We would like to reassure the local community that their flood risk has not increased after damage was caused to an embankment in Cockermouth following recent heavy rainfall.

“All the flood defences in Cockermouth remain intact, but they could be vulnerable to further heavy rain.

"We are starting temporary works to strengthen the flood defences ahead of winter along with providing a temporary flood defence in the old police station yard to increase protection further. More permanent works will be undertaken in Spring 2022."

A crane will be used to place stone bags in the river in front of the flood wall to prevent further erosion of the bank or undermining of the wall during high flows.

"We plan to start enabling works the week beginning the 22 November with the crane arriving on site the following week. We anticipate the works will take approximately one week to complete," said an EA spokesman.

Mayor Alan Smith is calling for changes to be made at the traffic lights by Sainsbury's, to help traffic keep flowing through town while diversions are in place.

"It was bedlam on Sunday, with cars sitting on Lorton Road," he said.

"Traffic light changes need to be made so cars get out of the town a bit more speedily. Kirkgate is also a pinch point."