WITH Southern Bridge at Tinhay now closed until the middle of February for repair works, Lifton parish councillors expressed their concerns about repeated remedial works and discussed possible long-term solutions at a recent council meeting.

Devon Highways is currently working on the bridge to repair historic damage as well as more recent damage caused by an incident involving a lorry a few weeks ago.

Borough councillor for Lifton Donald Horn said: 'Incidents of damage are happening nearly every week with various lorries that come that way. I think highways should do a survey for a decent alternative route.

'We've always had issues with that bridge and the excuse has always been that the bridge is listed and can't be touched. I think there are plans afoot to change that area — maybe a proper route should be looked at to get into Plymouth at the same time.'

Mr Horn said traffic had increased over Southern Bridge: 'Since the bridge was altered, traffic flow there has doubled. We know we are going to get lorries trying to get over the bridge. The closure now means that they will put a bit of cement in the wall, which will just be a waste of time.'

Cllr Tim Sutton-Woodhouse agreed that the repairs would ultimately be a waste of time. He said: 'Highways seem to be able to afford to come along every three or four years to do repairs — it's about time they came to do something more permanent. The fact that they close and repair the bridge every few years is a cost to us. It's not just big trucks damaging the bridge, it's tractors with trailers too.'

Parish council chairman Chris Edmonds said: 'Since the road alignment changed on the factory side, the number of incidents of damage reported have been lower. Maybe we could try to get the signage improved, but there are other bridges more in need.

'Really the alternative suggested route isn't satisfactory and not a realistic alternative for most businesses. This is an on-going problem. We could look at the bridge engineer's findings from the inspection, and then make representations for an alternative bridge, a new bridge on a new site, or push for a replacement bridge.'

Cllr Martin Hall suggested a new bridge could be built slightly further down from Southern Bridge and a possible road through Spry Lane with a wider bridge was also suggested.

Cllr Brian Moore proposed the council should speak to the bridge engineer and find out what the long-term options for the bridge were and whether there would be an alternative available.

Southern Bridge is due to re-open on Friday, February 14.