TRAFFIC over Colwall Railway Bridge will be reduced to a single lane in a bid to delay its deterioration.

Following a structural survey, Herefordshire Council has decided to install traffic lights at either end of the bridge and put a metal barrier down the middle, to limit traffic to one lane.

At a later stage, the council will strengthen the bridge or, more likely, replace it.

At a meeting of Colwall Parish Council on Wednesday, Martin Jackson, Herefordshire engineering services manager, said: "At the moment, the bridge is entirely safe, but reducing it to a single lane will mean the rate of deterioration is significantly less.

"It's about doing work now so we don't have to do more work later on."

Mr Jackson said the barriers and traffic lights would go up within the next three months and work on the bridge would begin in the next five years.

The restrictions will not prevent lorries, agricultural vehicles or other traffic from crossing the bridge.

Parking in the centre of Colwall sparked debate at the same meeting.

In the latest edition of The Colwall Clock, Alison Dore, West Mercia Police community support officer, outlined her concerns about parking near the post office, at the junction of Stone Drive and Walwyn Road. She said many vehicles were causing an obstruction and police would be cracking down on drivers.

Coun Phil Browing said: "I think this article is disgusting and it's going to sound the death knell for that part of the village. If you stop people parking there, they will go to other places to do their shopping.

"All this is just a perceived danger - I don't know of one serious accident there."

But Coun James Ferguson said: "There's quite a serious problem, which we need to be addressing as a parish council, and that's that we just don't have any parking space anymore in the middle of Colwall.

"This is why people are parking in inappropriate places."