PART of Cawood Bridge was near to collapsing when engineers checked it after a road accident, it has been revealed.

Now the 150-year-old bridge is to be closed for five days from Monday, October 27, so urgent repair work can be carried out.

The full extent of the damage only became apparent when engineers were inspecting the bridge following an accident, in which a vehicle collided with a safety barrier.

During the inspection, a tractor pulling bales of hay crossed the bridge and a five footsection of the deck dropped by one inch.

Senior engineer Terry Barker, who works for Mouchel-Parkman, an engineering consultancy firm employed by bridge owners North Yorkshire County Council, said: "The incident involving the safety barrier was fortuitous in one sense.

"It was only because of the accident that we carried out an inspection and discovered that the York end of the bridge was about to drop off.

"We found three large cracks in a ten-millimetre thick steel plate, which ran the full length of the bridge deck.

"It was due to metal fatigue and the integrity of the last one-and-half metres of the deck had been completely compromised.

"We immediately put a closure order on river traffic and new metal plating was brought in within hours to effect temporary repairs."

Mr Barker said the permanent repairs would involve the installation of a much beefier 20-millimetre steel plate, which would make it far stronger than it ever was.

He said they had consulted residents, the parish council and bus companies about the closure from 8am on Monday, October 27, until the evening of Friday, October 31.

He said Arriva Yorkshire would be running services to both ends of the bridge so Cawood residents could walk across most of the time.

Alternative routes for vehicles would be signed.

Riccall resident and former parish council chairman Dave Jones said: "I hope these repairs solve the problem because villagers are fed up.

"It has already been closed several times this year and causes traffic chaos."

Updated: 12:13 Saturday, October 18, 2003