A NEW bridge is being promised at Colwall following on-going concerns about the current bridge's safety.

The Colwall Green bridge on the B4218 has been subject to closures and traffic control measures since an assessment of it by highways and transport chiefs revealed doubts about its capacity.

Various proposals were put forward for the bridge, but Herefordshire Council and Network Rail officers have concluded that the best solution is to proceed directly to the construction of a new bridge.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "The decision to go straight to building a new bridge is taken in the light of the final assessment which finds that the proposed bailey bridge would not be satisfactory.

"It will also be very much better for a new permanent bridge to be built as soon as possible and I welcome the agreement of Network Rail to bring forward the programme and give this new bridge the priority it deserves," he added.

Network Rail's route director Dave Ward said: "Going for a permanent solution is the best way forward for all concerned. If we were able to install a Bailey Bridge as a temporary measure, it could have been in position for five years or more before the bridge was completely rebuilt.

"Building a completely new bridge next year will mean there will only be one lot of disruption for the villagers and they won't have to wait for several years for their new bridge."

Network Rail will need to obtain the agreement of train operators to close the line to allow construction work to take place.

Herefordshire Council and Network Rail will now be working out a programme for work.

Regular meetings have been set up between Herefordshire Council and Network Rail in order to progress the work as quickly as possible.