Moves to protect salmon enable repairs to Derbyshire road

Engineers say they have found a new solution, after initial repairs were washed away

Delays in repairing a road that saw two landslides in under two years, due to salmon breeding, have been resolved the Environment Agency has said.

Lea Road, near Cromford, Derbyshire, was closed following the first landslide in January 2020.

The county council initially said the work would be delayed due to salmon breeding, as its engineers needed to dig into the River Derwent.

However the Environment Agency said the work could now start from March.

'Earliest opportunity'

Derbyshire County Council said work to repair the road had to stop in May 2021 as engineers found the landslip was still moving and had cracked a sewer pipe running underneath.

The pipe was mended and work was due to begin again in November 2021 when the road suffered a further collapse.

The council said it had gained permission from the Environment Agency for a new solution to repair the road, which involved building into the river bed.

It said the agency did not want work to start in the river until June to take account of the salmon breeding season.

However, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: "[We] would normally request that such work takes place after 16 June to reduce the impact on fish during the spawning season.

"In this case we have approved the works with additional steps to protect the river.

"We anticipate issuing the permit to the council's contractors in mid-March, at which point we will hold no further objections to the works commencing at the earliest opportunity."

The council said the road was now likely to reopen in November, instead of February 2023, as was originally forecast.

A spokesperson said: "We are grateful to the Environment Agency for letting our contractors start work in March.

"This means that the road could reopen in November 2022, so long as we do not face any other setbacks or further landslips on the road."