A SOUTH Lakeland councillor has raised concerns about disruption caused to motorists when a bridge was closed following a collision.

Crooklands Bridge over the Lancaster Canal was damaged by a lorry and was closed on February 1 – blocking access to the B6385 to Milnthorpe from the A65.

Although it has since reopened, Cllr Roger Bingham said the bridge, which belonged to the Canal and River Trust, was closed without “any” prior notification to Cumbria County Council, which is the area highway authority.

He wants the communication to be improved in future if the bridge ever has to close so that people get more warnings.

The bridge is regularly used by heavy traffic, including school buses taking pupils to school between Kirkby Lonsdale and Milnthorpe, said Cllr Bingham, the Conservative councillor for Lower Kentdale.

He complained he was not notified of the closure until the day it was closed.

“I myself had to let the schools know because they didn’t know it was closed,” said Cllr Bingham. “There seems to have been a breakdown in communication between the two authorities.”

Cllr Keith Little, the cabinet member for highways at Cumbria County Council, said it was a “difficult situation” to manage because the road was owned by the council and the bridge was owned by the trust.

“My understanding is that because the bridge is unsafe, the legal duty to sign diversions is the canal trust,” said Cllr Little, the Labour councillor for Maryport South.

“Usually, the county council finds out first that something has happened and then we need to inform our education providers that there’s an incident because the buses need to be diverted.”

Cllr Little has pledged to explore a meeting involving the council, the canal trust and the community, to improve communication.