Fears diversion bridge 'will cause bad accident'

Villagers are angry at having to use an "unsuitable" small bridge as part of a diversion route for years and fear a serious accident is "only a matter of time".

Hamsterley in County Durham only has four roads leading in and out of it and the C31 has been closed since January 2023, with the diversion route leading lorries and vans over Linburn Beck.

Local Reform UK county councillor Robert Potts said the pinch point at the bridge over the beck had been the site of a number of traffic accidents and had itself been hit on several occasions.

Durham County Council's structures manager Andrew Lough said inspectors would visit to assess the bridge for defects.

Potts said residents had reported the volume of traffic over Linburn bridge had almost doubled since the closure of the C31, after part of the road collapsed into the River Wear.

He said a family member was driving over the bridge with two child passengers recently when a bigger oncoming vehicle misjudged the gap and hit them, but nobody was injured.

"The narrow width of the bridge, combined with the angle at which the road approaches it from both directions, creates a particular hazard for road users," he said.

Resident Andy Richardson said the bridge on the C30 was having to accommodate all the additional traffic from the C31 and it was "not sustainable".

He said he thought the bridge needed remediation work.

He said: "At the Durham County Council cabinet meeting in September we anticipate the announcement of the permanent closure of the C31, making a highways assessment of the C30 more relevant."

Potts questioned how long the council wanted to "rely on good fortune before someone is seriously hurt".

"Without significant improvements on the C30 and the bridge crossing, I fear it is only a matter of time before a more serious incident occurs," Potts said.

Lough said the council carried out "an in-depth examination of the structure last year to determine that it was safe and structurally sound".

"We appreciate residents' concerns over the safety of the bridge and its importance as a route out of the village, and we will continue to monitor the structure closely to ensure it is structurally safe."

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