Repairs to bridge hit by lorry will close village road for over a month

Lancashire County Council has announced that Chapel Park Road will be closed from February 8 to March 21, to allow for repairs to a bridge on the road.

The bridge, which carries four lanes of the A59 Longton Bypass, was struck by a HGV in March last year, which forced it to be closed for two days.

>>>Read about the bridge strike here

Though the repairs are connected, the council insists the bridge is safe and the work taking place is to prevent any future corrosion to metal beams.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "The vehicle impact to Brownhill bridge damaged the concrete which surrounds some of its steel beams. The repair work will involve casting new concrete to the damaged areas to ensure the beams are protected from corrosion and help to prolong the life of the bridge.

"Fortunately the impact did not affect the strength of the bridge and, once it had been made safe following the removal of loose debris, traffic has been able to continue using it as normal. Meanwhile we have assessed the repairs needed and planned them within our annual bridge maintenance programme.

"Chapel Park Road will need to be closed under the bridge while the repairs take place with a diversion in place via the A59 Longton Bypass.

It is believed that the work was picked up as part of routine bridge maintenance inspections.

Diversion signs will be in place once the works have started.