A REPLACEMENT for a footbridge in Kendal which has been closed to the public since 2016 should be brought forward, a councillor said.

Cllr Peter Thornton brought up the issue of Gooseholme footbridge at a meeting of Cumbria County Council's local committee for South Lakeland.

"New Road now looks lovely at the moment, but the bridge looks a disgrace," he said.

"There's an opportunity here to carry on upgrading that whole area and make it into something Kendal can be really proud of.

"If possible, we should look to bring it forward."

Council officers present at the meeting said the plans had already been brought forward, with a new single-span bridge to be opened to the public in January.

"That's going to be a challenge with everything else going on, but it has been brought forward," said the officer.

Cllr Thornton came back saying it was important to members of the public to see something happening rather than the existing bridge continuing to stand idle.

"The public would like to see something happening, even if it's just taking the old bridge away," he said.

"Members (of the council) have indicated quite a few times that this is a high priority to us. It's in the centre of Kendal and it means a lot to people. If something somewhere else gets put off for a while then ok."

The bridge suffered damage as a result of Storm Desmond in 2015, but did not close in the immediate aftermath of the floods.

Cllr Stan Collins warned there could yet be other pieces of infrastructure requiring improvements that have not yet been identified as a result of the 'extreme disturbance' of the weather.

"We are not going to see the end of this in terms of damage becoming obvious for a long time to come," he said. "We need to be alert to the fact this can still happen."