Plea for Lincolnshire County Council to fix closed bridge crossing River Welland on one of Stamford’s meadows

Repairs to a bridleway bridge which collapsed four months ago have been pushed back again due to flooding.

The Stamford broadeng bridge over the River Welland on the far side of Freeman’s Meadow collapsed beneath horserider Debbie Bull and her 12-year-old thoroughbred Rory on September 30 last year.

An emergency closure was immediately put in place and the bridge has remained shut since.

“I cannot believe it’s not be fixed and reopened,” said Debbie.

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Since the incident Debbie has been riding in the Ryhall area, which is where Rory is stabled in the winter but he will return to Tinwell in the coming months.

“When we come back in the spring, if it's not fixed by then I’m not sure which routes we will take,” said Debbie.

“We may be forced to ride more on main roads which is quite dangerous.

After the fall Rory needed stitches, painkillers and antibiotics and was out of action for six weeks, while Debbie was shaken and badly bruised.

Debbie had been doing the route from Tinwell to Stamford for a number of years and called on the council for a review of bridleway bridges to ensure they are safe.

The closure of the bridge has also been affecting people who use the bridleway route for running and walking.

A route crossing through the Meadows, across broadeng bridge and up to Easton-on-the-Hill is a firm favourite of Stamford Striders, according to the running group’s chairperson Robin Ball.

The bridge is also included in a number of other pre-planned summer routes for Stamford Striders, which has more than 200 members.

“We will have to change our route unless the council pulls their finger out,” he said.

Robin is aware of people who climb the fencing to cross the bridge but says it is too big of a health and safety risk to take runners across.

“It needs to be fixed,” he said.

“It’s quite a significant amenity.

“Everyone is supposed to do exercise and the closure is severely limiting access to areas south of the town.”

He added: “I know they have got lots to do but that’s what the council is there for.

“It’s not that big of a job.”

Lincolnshire County Council has an inspection scheduled for the end of this week which will determine what work needs to be done, ahead of getting quotes from suppliers.

Floods caused by Storm Babet in October and further devastation from Storm Henk in January have been blamed for the delay.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council said: “The reason for the delay is because of the recent flooding events.

"The engineers who are qualified to inspect and report back on the bridge have been involved in flood reactive works and it has only been recently that resources have been available to schedule inspections.”

The council was unable to answer when the repairs will be carried out, when the bridge is likely to reopen, what repair work needs to be done and how much it will cost.

However, it will be dependent on budget, weather and ground conditions, confirmed the spokesperson.