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Businesses cut off after car crash closes bridge

BBC A large perimeter of red barriers blocking the road from any vehicles. There are also several concrete barriers as reinforcement. There are orange cones and a road closed sign. The whole street is blocked off and only pedestrians can walk along the pavement on the left. The damaged bridge is on the right behind metal fencing.BBC
Concrete barriers have been put in place to prevent any other vehicles attempting to cross the bridge

An already flood-damaged bridge which was destroyed in a car crash has left businesses struggling, as footfall in the "ghost town" dwindles.

Newerne Street Bridge, in the centre of Lydney, Gloucestershire, suffered "significant damage" after a driver ignored road closure signs and collided with it on 3 December.

The bridge had already been closed for nine days at the time due to flood damage cafter the River Lyd burst its banks during Storm Bert.

A councillor has called it a "double disaster" and the road remains closed, although repair work was scheduled to begin on Thursday.

A blue car which has crashed into a low bridge above a stream. It is dark and the car's brake lights are on with the driver's door left open. The bonnet of the car is crumpled from the impact and there are bricks and glass shards across the pavement.
The council said that repairs to the bridge will be paid for by the driver's insurance company

Gloucestershire Constabulary said officers were called to the scene just before 01:00 GMT on 3 December, following a report a car had crashed into the bridge.

Mayor Tasha Saunders said the vehicle had struck the weakest part of the bridge, which had "water pouring through" it during the floods.

Lydney Town councillor James Bevan said vehicles now had to navigate a four-mile (6.4km) detour to bypass the closed road- which had effectively cut the town in two.

"I think it's just devastating for the people who live here," he said.

"They're only just getting over the floods and now they've got to put up with this inconvenience. It's a bit of a double disaster for them."

Emma Kemsley standing in her shop surrounded by clothes, shoes and jewellery stands. She is wearing a black and red striped jumper, a red patterned scarf and a spherical silver necklace. She has short dirty blonde hair and a forlorn expression.
Ms Kemsley said the impact on her business has been "massively upsetting"

Independent trader Emma Kemsley said the incident has had a "devastating effect" on the community.

"It's like an eerie ghost town now, we're not getting the footfall," she said.

"Takings are dramatically down, up to about 60%. It's definitely been a struggle."

According to Gloucestershire County Council, the damaged parapet will be removed on 9 January which is expected to take up to two days.

Divers will then enter the River Lyd on 16 January to assess the damage to the underside of the 101-year-old structure.

As the River Lyd is classified as a main river, the council must obtain permission from the Environment Agency before any repairs can get underway.

Lydney Town Council A composite image showing two separate angles of the damaged bridge. On the left it shows white and blue police tape cornering off the dangerous area where bricks are crumbling into the river below. On the right the image shows the low bridge which has been driven into and bricks are scattered across the pavement.Lydney Town Council
The car crash caused significant damage to the 101-year-old bridge

Alan Preest, conservative county councillor for Lydney, said reopening the road remained their "top priority".

"My promise to the people of Lydney is we will get this back up and running as quickly as possible," he said.

"Whether it's one-way, with a weight limit, or completely back to normal. I don't know until we get a more detailed analysis."

A comprehensive timeframe on the repairs was not yet clear, but Mr Preest expected repairs to cost "well into the thousands".

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