A FLOOD-damaged bridge that has been closed for nearly a year in a South Lakeland village is scheduled to open in the spring of 2019.

According to Cumbria County Council, works are progressing well on Ford Bridge, Burneside, and repairs should be completed by April 2019.

The bridge was badly damaged by Storm Desmond in 2015 and was the subject of an emergency closure, after a detailed dive inspection was carried out in 2017. It found there was ‘significant deterioration’ of the bases beneath the bridge’s two supporting piers.

The repair is part of the council’s Infrastructure Recovery Programme (IRP), which began following Storm Desmond.

The IRP included 768 damaged structures and so far the council has completed 401 repairs with the remaining work either in progress or scheduled to begin in the next year.