Anger over badly-damaged Market Drayton bridge which has been closed for a month
A man from near Market Drayton is furious about a bridge that was damaged almost a month ago and is still closed, forcing people to take a detour and use a busy bypass to access the town.
Bridge 65, of the Shropshire Union Canal, carries Maer Lane in the north-eastern outskirts of Market Drayton.
The sandstone bridge was badly damaged by a crash in the early hours of Saturday, November 30.
One of the bridge's walls toppled onto the canal path below and blocked it, but that debris has since been moved onto a grass verge and fenced off.
The road, which is the main route into and out of Market Drayton for nearby Betton and Norton-in-Hales, remains shut with fences and barriers covering where the damaged wall once was.
Norman Noden lives in nearby Betton Wood and said the closure means his frequent trips into Market Drayton are now five miles longer than before and involve crossing the busy A53 bypass instead of taking Maer Lane over it.
The 81-year-old former farmer said: "It's unbelievable. The sign says it's a work in progress but it's not. They haven't done a thing.
"They just put the fences and barriers up and left it.
"I pop into Drayton twice a day. It turns two miles into seven miles.
"The worst thing is crossing the bypass. The lorries go at some speed, they nearly wiped us out once."
Market Drayton Town Councillor Mike Smith said that motorists were still using the bridge until early December, but that it has been "completely closed to traffic now".
A Shropshire Council spokesman said the bridge was the responsibility of the Canal & River Trust, but that a temporary traffic regulation order had been granted.
The order can remain in place until early February, although the road may be open before then depending on when the repair work is complete.
The Canal & River Trust has not responded to requests for comment.
West Mercia Police was asked whether an investigation has taken place into what caused the damage. The force has not responded.
