THE controversial closure of York’s Lendal Bridge may be open to legal challenge, Liberal Democrat councillors have claimed.

They claim the closure decision was taken before an assessment of its impact on disabled residents was completed.

“City of York Council's own guidelines say that 'Community Impact Assessments' (CIAs) should be done at the development stage of any policy and before any decision is taken,” said a spokesman.

“However, the CIA on the closure of Lendal Bridge was only completed on September 12 - a full two weeks after the closure started and months after the decision was originally taken in May.”

Coun Lynn Jeffries said the council had a moral as well as a legal duty to ensure its policies did not negatively impact on the most vulnerable in York.

But Labour Cabinet Member for Transport, Coun Dave Merrett, said the obligation on councils to produce a CIA no longer existed, since it had been removed by the Coalition Government.

“However, as a council we considered that it was something important we wanted to carry out over the trial period,” he said. “So a CIA was carried out early in the trial and will continue to be updated as the trial continues.”

Darren Richardson, Director of City and Environmental Services, said a CIA was looked at in August, when details of the scheme were still in development.

“This was then updated in September. As this is a trial, it is an ongoing process of updating a CIA as data and evidence becomes available.”