Central Bedfordshire Council says Clophill footbridge will remain

Central Bedfordshire Council considered replacing the bridge with a toucan crossing

A council has decided to keep a footbridge over a busy road as its original plan would have cost more than its allocated budget.

Central Bedfordshire Council considered replacing it with a toucan crossing at the A507 between Clophill and Shefford.

Campaigners, who had said the road was too dangerous to cross on foot, said they felt "vindicated".

The council said it "reassessed the plans" after receiving tenders and "knowing [the] strength" of feeling.

The authority said it had 580 responses to its consultation on the proposed scheme at the A6/A507 junction, which aimed to improve the Clophill roundabout for road users and and introduce "pedestrian and cyclist enhancements".

After the consultation ended in July 2022, a decision was made to go ahead with the government-funded scheme.

'Required changes'

But in a statement, the council said there had been some "required changes" since then due to "rising construction costs", an issue affecting capital projects across the UK.

"Following the procurement process, significant inflationary pressures in the construction industry led to tenders coming in over the scheme's allocated budget," the statement read.

"Knowing the strength of public feeling during the consultation, we took this opportunity to reassess the plans to redesign the roundabout and will move forward with an amended scheme that keeps the footbridge.

"Remodelling the planned roundabout brings the project costs in line with the budget and still delivers significant benefits for road users, local residents and communities across Central Bedfordshire."

Dean Elcome, who set up the Save Clophill Footbridge Facebook page, said the u-turn had come "completely out of the blue".

He said he felt "vindicated" and "relieved".

"It's really a win for common sense but more importantly safety," he said.

"I think it's probably driven by money fundamentally, however, it did give them the basis to take another look at our rejections and the reasons behind it.

"I'll take that as a win to be honest."