MAJOR work to rebuild Brougham Street Bridge in Burnley at a cost of nearly £2m starts next week.

And motorists are being warned to avoid the area from July 21 when the road will be closed to traffic for a maximum of 25 weeks.

The work will be carried out by Galliford Rail Projects working for bridge owner Network Rail as utility companies such as gas and water begin diverting their services.

Brougham Street Bridge is one of more than 1,000 Network Rail owned public road bridges in the North West, all of which are subject to a national assessment programme known as Bridgeguard 3.

The programme, which has been requested by the government, is being carried out to prove the suitability of the bridges for 40-tonne EU commercial road vehicles.

A spokesman for Network Rail North West said: "The assessment process identified that the bridge was approaching the end of its useful life, so a feasibility study was carried out to look at the options for extending its lifespan.

"Options included closing the bridge altogether, imposing a very low permanent weight restriction, strengthening the bridge or rebuilding completely.

"Discussions with the highway authority and county council discounted complete closure or a weight restriction because of the location of the road and its importance in the local road network. It was decided that a single-span bridge should replace the two-span structure."

The main items of work to be undertaken will be:

Installation of a temporary pedestrian footbridge

Temporary diversion of services, including a medium pressure gas main.

Demolition of bridge

Construction of new bridge abutment and new bridge deck

Reinstatement of temporary service diversions

Road surfacing and finishing works The installation of the temporary bridge and some service diversions will be carried out with lane closures.

Due to safety considerations and site constraints, diversion of the gas and water services will be carried out during the full closure of the road to vehicles.

It will take approximately nine weeks before the main work.

Twelve weeks of road closure are required for the reconstruction of the bridge with a further three weeks for the final reinstatement of all diverted services.

The spokesman said: "Every effort will be made to reduce the length of this significant but necessary closure.

"A signed diversion route approved by the highway authority will be in force for the duration of the road closure."