A CAMPAIGN by rail heritage groups and members of the public to remove the tonnes of concrete which were poured underneath a historic railway bridge has proved successful.

At a meeting today, Eden District Council planners unanimously rejected National Highways' (formerly Highways England) retrospective planning application to 'infill' the bridge.

The 159-year-old railway bridge was infilled last summer with a mound of concrete.

At the time, the action was labelled 'inexplicable' and 'destructive' by rail groups.

An Eden District Council spokesperson said: "Eden District Council's planning committee has voted unanimously to refuse the retrospective planning application at Great Musgrave Bridge.

"The applicant may now seek to appeal this decision.

"However, the Council will look to serve an enforcement order for the removal of the infill, at the earliest opportunity."

National Highways’ Head of the Historical Railways Estate programme, Hélène Rossiter, responded: "We respect Eden District Council’s decision regarding our planning application to retain the works at Great Musgrave, and will not be appealing.

"We have listened to the feedback on this issue and earlier this year amended our processes to ensure full planning permission is sought before carrying out work like this in the future.

"Our new process of managing the estate, which has full stakeholder engagement, means we will review each structure against a range of criteria, not only for repurposing but also for heritage or ecological value.

"We will also no longer consider the infilling of any structures as part of our future plans, unless there is absolutely no alternative."