PLANS for major repairs to Selby swing bridge will be on display today.

The £14m repairs to the bridge will start on Friday, July 26, and will be the biggest improvements since the bridge was built in 1889, with steelwork repairs, replacement and strengthening of sections, replacement of the track across the bridge, and maintenance work on its hydraulics.

New walkways for bridge operators will also be installed, and the work is expected to finish by the beginning of September, but the repairs will mean sections of the Ousegate will be closed during the repairs.

Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, said the repairs would be worth the short-term disruption - which will mean no trains can run over the bridge from the evening of July 26.

He said: “Once these improvements are complete, many parts of the bridge will not need any further work for decades. It will also mean an existing speed restriction on passenger services will be lifted. We will have people working on site all day, every day, to get this work finished. We have worked hard with train operators to put the best possible alternative travel arrangements in place."

Buses will replace some rail services throughout the repairs, with timetables and other information expected before the repairs start.

The drop-in event will be on the ground floor of the site offices in Ousegate, Selby, between 10am and 7pm, with members of the Network Rail Selby team and staff from train operating companies on-hand to answer questions.

More information is available nationalrail.co.uk or by phoning 08457 484950.