THE railway bridge at Tonedale was completely shut to traffic last Wednesday after Network Rail ran into complications with the repair work it has been carrying out.

The bridge had been open to vehicles for the school run and rush hours but after workmen found utility services ‘kinking away’ from where they were believed to have run, it was closed for safety reasons.

It is believed workmen will now have to work across the roadway and will not be able to open a lane between 7-10am and 3-6pm, as before.

Network Rail communications Matthew Thompson said: “The good news is that the closure will allow the work to be undertaken more quickly with the road re-opening on October 9.”

Wellington town and Somerset county councillor John Thorne, who has been vocal over the bridge closure, has expressed his frustration about what has happened.

He said: “I find this completely unacceptable and I do not believe the ‘good news’ that the work can be completed more quickly will do anything to alleviate the feelings of the large number of local residents who will now be permanently cut off from the rest of Wellington 24/7 for the next three weeks and two days. I appreciate this may be a difficult and complex bridge operation but I do not believe that in this day and age the necessary resources are not accessible to carry out this work on a very short stretch of carriageway much more quickly and efficiently.”

In an email to Mr Thompson he added: “This repair operation I believe falls short of the requirement to care also for the public whom you serve and I shall therefore ask our MP to inquire into the planning of this project to find out what decisions were made and why.”