Thorp Arch Bridge Wetherby: Full diversions as 250-year-old Leeds bridge set for closure

Thorp Arch Bridge, located on Bridge Road in Wetherby, is set to be closed between 9am and 4pm on Sunday, January 19.

The routine structural safety inspection, due to be carried out during a previous closure in November, was unable to be completed as a result of bad weather and flooding.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "The bridge is planned to be closed from 9am to 4pm on Sunday, January 19 to allow a routine structural safety inspection to be undertaken by a specialist underbridge unit.

“The inspection is planned for the daytime to allow the inspection to be undertaken in a safe manner in daylight and to avoid any noisy operations at night time caused by the equipment used in the works.

“Advance warning signs will be in place at the point of closure prior to the 19th January and a signed diversion will be in place during this time.”

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The notoriously narrow bridge, said to have opened in 1770, connects the villages of Boston Spa and Thorp Arch across the River Wharfe.

Advanced warning boards are due to be put in place from January 5 and the number 7 service is expected to divert via the A168, Wattle Syke Roundabout and A659 to Moor End in both directions - as implemented previously.