Trail section to close for eight-week bridge works

A section of a trail popular with walkers and cyclists will be closed for eight weeks while maintenance work is carried out on a bridge.

New steel-enforced decks will be installed on the structure on the Keswick to Threkeld Railway Trail, in Cumbria, from 7 September along with new guardrails and a new steel subframe.

The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) said the project would give the bridge a "renewed lifespan of 30 years".

A 0.3-mile (0.5km) section at the Keswick end of the route will not be accessible in either direction during the closure.

To the east of the bridge, the trail can be joined via a ramp from a footpath on Penrith Road.

The LDNPA's specialists assets manager, Martin Lord, said contractors would be "taking great care" to preserve the area, which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Other bridge repair work about 0.6-miles (1km) from the Threlkeld end of the trail is due to be completed by the beginning of September.

The 3.1-mile (5km) route along a former railway line reopened in December 2020 on the fifth anniversary of Storm Desmond, which had seen record rainfall deluge Cumbria with nearly 800 bridges and 185 miles (300km) of roads across the county damaged or destroyed.

More than 1,700 people had signed a petition opposing plans to resurface the path's natural surface with asphalt, claiming it could damage wildlife habitats.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Cumbria on BBC Sounds.