LOCALS have expressed anger after signs for a 13-week road closure were placed in their village as National Highways prepares to remove 1,600 tonnes of stone and concrete from a historic railway bridge.

The structure at Great Musgrave in Cumbria was controversially infilled under emergency permitted development rights in 2021.

The state-owned roads company was forced to submit a retrospective planning application to retain the infill material, but this was rejected by Eden District Council in June last year, after which an enforcement notice was issued requiring its removal by 11 October 2023.

Some preparatory works have already taken place, exposing the top part of the bridge’s north side.

However, the main scheme - due to start on July 17 - involves excavating beneath the bridge’s arch.

National Highways has arranged a closure of the B6259 - which crosses the structure - for the three-month duration of the project, until October 18. 

Tim Wells, who chairs Musgrave Parish Council, said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous - have they learned nothing? Yet again, there’s been no dialogue with the community directly affected by their actions. How can National Highways not understand the impact this closure will have on villages served by this crucial road?

“Several farms have property on both sides of the bridge - they need to use it every day. There’s a produce seller who will lose most of their passing trade. Are they going to be compensated? The school bus won’t be able to cross, so what are the children going to do? And then there are people who need to get to work and do their shopping.

“The bridge is about 30 yards long. If you’re in a small vehicle that can use the lane heading north from Great Musgrave, the diversion from one end of the bridge to the other is almost five miles. But for a bigger farm machine, at best you’re looking at more than seven miles going via Brough, and that assumes it will fit under the low bridge at Warcop.

“What they’re planning to impose is unacceptable," they said. 

National Highways have stated the bridge cannot be used safely once work has begun, causing the full-time closure outwith working hours.

"Among the reasons for closing the road was for the safety of users of large vehicles such as farm machinery and buses, as Great Musgrave bridge currently does not have the capacity for such traffic.

"Unfortunately, for safety reasons, it’s not possible to keep the bridge open for traffic while removing the infill. To have the bridge open to traffic, we would need to carry out strengthening work on the structure or have a weight restriction put in place by the local authority.

"We’d like to thank the public for their continued patience," they said.