The chairman of Malpas Parish Council has echoed its call for Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) to speed up the repair of Bradley Bridge.

The bridge is in Old Malpas Road, which connects the village to Whitchurch and currently has barriers and traffic lights, reducing it to one singe lane with work lasting, one-and-off, for more than a year following a vehicle hitting it in December 2017.

The council wrote a letter two weeks ago to Andrew Lewis, chief executive of CWAC, making the call for immediate action to make the bridge a two-way carriageway once more.

Councillor John Webb says he and his colleague at Malpas are getting frustrated on behalf of residents and issued a simple message to councillors – get it fixed and ask questions.

"The parish council understands the technical reasons that require CWaC to have traffic lights and barriers on the bridge.

"What we do not understand is why it is taking so much time to resolve the matter.

"The bridge has been restricted to a single carriageway, or fully closed for well over 12 months.

"I can’t help but feel matters are being over complicated, responsibility being abdicated and that had this been a Chester City centre bridge, it would have been resolved quickly.

"The issue seems to be who is responsible for the required repair – we suggest the Council gets on, fixes it and argues about responsibility later."

In the letter to Mr Lewis, the parish council said: "Under a freedom of information request recently made by a member of the public, Malpas Parish Council understands the cost for the traffic lights is approximately £1,200 per month, with a proportion of the traffic light costs to be paid for by the drivers’ insurance company and the rest of the cost for the traffic lights will be paid for by the Council.

"The traffic lights are expected to be in situ for approximately six months.

"The purpose of the barriers and traffic lights is to offer protection to the bridge parapet which has under strength mortar as the Lime Mortar has NOT reached the setting strength required

"This issue is causing much controversy and frustration among residents living in Malpas and surrounding villages due to the inconvenience and costs involved.

"Indeed, a local resident who worked in construction for many years has stated that if the mortar was mixed to the specified strength with the proper use of mortar gauge boxes it would not need an extreme length of time to set and in wintry conditions would withstand the effects of freezing after three months."

In January this year, CWAC Cabinet Member Environment, Cllr Karen Shore, said: “Following repairs to the bridge parapet, there is a problem with the lime mortar used in the joints. It has not gained sufficient strength for the wall to be strong enough. Expert advice has been sought and the Council is working jointly with our highways contractor to find a solution.

“We are now gathering information to establish the reasons for these problems. There are several options available to us to remedy the situation which we will investigate further. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to residents and motorists in the area.”