Agency taken to task over bridge infill

A VICTORIAN bridge filled with tonnes of concrete and gravel must be unburied, in a humiliating ruling for the National Highways agency.

The road agency was accused of “cultural vandalism” after pouring 1,644 tonnes of gravel and concrete into the archway of Great Musgrave Bridge, built in 1826, in Cumbria last year.

Now, Eden district council has refused retrospective planning permission.

The agency will now have to spend £431,000 removing the infill. Campaigners say the bridge required only repointing to make it safe.

The highways agency poured concrete under the Victorian era Great Musgrave Bridge in Cumbria