A ROAD in Colne has been closed for the foreseeable future after temporary traffic lights and cones were repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Traffic management had been in place in Spring Gardens Road since last summer after damage was spotted to the retaining wall which supports the road above Colne Water. The damage was exacerbated by the Christmas floods.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But now Lancashire County Council has been forced to close the road until it is fully repaired after cones have been thrown in the water and traffic lights damaged several times in the last few weeks.

David Hurford, county council bridges manager, said the council cannot spend any more money on replacing the equipment and a road closure is now the only option.

He said: “We put traffic management in place last summer when the structural problems with the retaining wall emerged, to limit any further damage until it could be repaired.

“Unfortunately this has repeatedly been vandalised with the cones being frequently thrown in the river, and it has become worse lately with the traffic lights being damaged on a number of occasions over recent weeks.

“The amount of time and money we can spend replacing the traffic management has reached its limit, and we feel our only option is to close Spring Gardens Road to traffic until the repairs have been made.

“We have been discussing a repair scheme with the Environment Agency over recent months and hope to be in a position to do the work later this summer.”

The closure of the road was put in place yesterday using concrete barriers and a diversion is signed via Shaw Street, Bridge Street and Green Road.

Cllr Dorothy Lord, who represents the Waterside ward, said the work will cause some inconvenience: “This is vital work that needs to be done, it’s is very important that we get it finished as soon as possible as we have been trying to fix it for months.

“People will just have to be patient, this work is for their benefit and I think the decision to close it is the right one. This will hopefully help to get the job done quicker.”

Cllr Tony Greaves said: “This bridge is extremely dangerous. It is difficult to prevent vandalism especially if it’s being done at night, but the important thing is that the council gets on with the job and I hope this will help speed it up.”