Road re-opens after 18 months

A ROAD in Mountsorrel that has been shut for 18 months after a wall collapsed is about to re-open.

The failure of a ‘wing wall’ on bridges used by Mountsorrel quarry led to significant problems for businesses in the area and the compulsory closing of Bond Lane.

In particular Stonehurst Family Farm, which has land on the other side of the failed bridges, and used the lane to run tractor rides for visitors, was badly affected.

Farmer Tom Duffin said: “I’ve been absolutely tearing my hair out every time I had to go round and every time a customer rings up that can’t find us.

“I’m now looking forward to the road being re-opened.”

Tarmac owns the quarry, and has been working to repair the wall.

Community relations manager Ruth Roll said: “With the weather we have had this year it has caused some fundamental problems.

“We are finding some things that we hadn’t expected simply because of the age of the structures but we are determined to do the best job we can and we can’t do that in the rain.

“We are as keen as anybody else to get those bridges done, completed and replaced in an appropriate traditional style.”

Work on the bridges is ongoing and Tarmac has said that it will let people have more information about an end date for the current works when it becomes clear.

Mountsorrel pink granite is used across the UK in construction projects and the quarry has a historical presence in the village dating back to around 1750.