Appleby bridges and the A592 have reopened following last week's severe floods.

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: "Following the extraordinary efforts of county council staff and partners, including the military, there has now been some important progress in the repair of the county’s roads and bridges.

"St Lawrence road bridge and Jubilee footbridge in Appleby both reopened yesterday following underwater inspections by divers from Universal Diving Services. The bridges had been closed as a precautionary measure since last week’s devastating flooding.

"A further 20 bridges also remain closed, including major bridges in Carlisle, Keswick and Cockermouth.

"Divers are now assessing other bridges in priority order, as and when river conditions allow safe access. It has been difficult to arrange these inspections before as it was not safe to do so, for example in Appleby yesterdaythe divers were operating at the upper limits of ‘safe working’."

The spokesman added that, at the current time, river levels and water speed meant Eden Bridge in Carlisle was unlikely to be inspected anytime before Thursday this week. Even then, to allow safe access the inspection was likely to require divers to be lowered into the river in a cage from a crane.

The spokesman said that following extensive emergency repair work in the last week the A592 alongside Ullswater between Waterfoot and the Kirkstone Pass had now been reopened to all traffic.

"These are temporary repairs which will require further work in future. This will be scheduled once other urgent works have been completed.

"Work on other affected roads is progressing as quickly as possible, with all the hundreds of tonnes of debris removed from the A591 over the weekend."

Keith Little, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “Key bridges and main roads are our main priority for the network. It's great news that we are making progress, reopening bridges where safe and effecting emergency repairs on some of the most badly affected routes likes the A592. There’s a massive amount of work to do but we’re making progress.”