Work to begin on landslip damaged road

The C5101 near the Dent Head Viaduct has been closed since November

Repair work will begin on a rural road that has been closed for almost a year following landslip damage.

Contractors are due to start setting up on the C5101 near the Dent Head Viaduct in Cumbria, with work scheduled to start on 13 October and last for about seven weeks, Westmorland and Furness Council said.

The key community route was cut off in November after heavy rain caused a 6ft (1.9m) collapse next to the River Dee.

Barney Strange, whose 20 minute journey to take his disabled son to medical appointments now takes almost an hour, said he would be relieved when the main route in and out of his village of Cowgill was re-instated.

Mr Strange told BBC Radio Cumbria: "I'm anxious because obviously the road hasn't been built yet and there's seven weeks of weather and other things to consider.

"But when we drive up that dale - just a road that you otherwise would have taken for granted - will be an unbelievable feeling."

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The Liberal Democrat-led council said the repairs were complex but the road should be re-opened later this autumn "weather permitting".

Workers would realign the road away from the crest of the landslip, install drainage, and stabilise the slope.

Earthworks would also involve about 12,000 tonnes of material being moved off site, the council added.

Councillor Peter Thornton, the council's cabinet member for highways, said he understood the "impact and frustrations" the diversions had caused.

"I am delighted that work is so close to starting to fix this road," he said.