A SET of traffic cameras placed at either end of an historic East Yorkshire bridge has been described as “grotesque” and “totally out of place” by angry village residents.

The two cameras appeared last week on Grade II listed Sutton Bridge, between Elvington and Sutton-upon-Derwent, which was badly damaged by a lorry and had to be closed for extensive repairs in 2010.

However, residents are asking why East Riding of Yorkshire Council needed to put the cameras there and have described them as looking like something from a prison wall.

Tom Fitzpatrick, owner of Elvington Village Store, said: “They removed the weight limit and have put up two cameras observing traffic on the bridge.

“They look hideous. It looks like something from a prison. What is the purpose of them and what did they cost?”

Ian Bailey, chairman of Elvington Parish Council, said he knew the council was planning to put cameras on the bridge to monitor further instances of damage, however he said the parish was “given no indication of how grotesque they would be”.

“They are totally and utterly inappropriate for a 17th century bridge,” he said.

“I have been stopped by a lot of people asking if we had anything to do with them and I can say we most certainly did not.”

A 7.5 tonne weight restriction on the bridge was recently lifted following complaints from Bubwith residents who said the village had become an alternative route for lorries avoiding the bridge.

A spokesman for the council said a total of £60,000 had been spent on bridge cameras at Stamford Bridge and Bubwith, as well as Sutton.

He said: “These are all listed structures and cost a lot to repair and maintain. Had the cameras been in place in 2010 it would have saved the authority about half-a-million because we would have been able to claim that back.”

He said the money for the CCTV came from savings in last year's budget and that only a month ago a car had hit Sutton Bridge and the council has been to claim back the cost of repairs. He said: “It’s money well invested.”