A VICTORIAN railway bridge is to be demolished as part of a £2.4m road scheme.

Work will start on Tuesday (May 26) to replace the bridge at Leadgate, near Consett which Durham County Council says is beyond repair.

Built in 1896, the bridge carries the main road between Leadgate and Consett over a disused railway line which led up to Consett steelworks.

The road now links Front Street, in Leadgate, with Villa Real and is controlled by traffic lights as vehicles are only able to cross in single file, creating a bottleneck.

Over the next year, the bridge will be replaced with a straight carriageway to allow two-way traffic.

Crossing islands will be installed to allow pedestrians and cyclists, including those using the popular Coast-to-Coast route, to cross and new bus stops will also be created.

Although the work is likely to cause a year of disruption for residents of Leadgate, the council claims that removing the bottleneck will ultimately reduce congestion, promote economic growth and investment in the area and remove the need for future costly maintenance of the bridge.

Cllr Neil Foster, Cabinet member for economic regeneration, Durham County Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted that these works are now starting and we look forward to delivering improvements which will make life easier for motorists and pedestrians.

“We would also like to assure everyone that we will do all we can to keep disruption and delays to a minimum.”

The project will be carried out in three stages, with the first beginning on Tuesday (26 May) and continue until early August.

Leadgate Road will be closed from Leadgate bypass to West Street, except for local access, to allow for utilities to be installed and alignment works to be carried out.

Traffic will be diverted along Leadgate bypass and bus routes will be changed to use Werdohl Way and New Watling Street, where temporary bus stops will be in place.

The bridge will then reopen to traffic until the autumn/winter time, while fibre optic cables are put in place.

During the final stage, the existing bridge will be removed while the new road layout is completed. These works are expected to continue until the spring or summer 2016.

Again, diversions for general traffic will be in place via Leadgate bypass and buses will be diverted via Werdohl Way and New Watling Street.

Adrian White, head of transport and contract services, Durham County Council, said: “This is a major investment in both the community and local infrastructure which will see a raft of improvements to the surrounding area.

“We would like to thank the public in advance for their patience while we carry out this important project and to take notice of the closures, diversions and temporary bus stops in place.”

For further details about the scheme visit durham.gov.uk/villareal