Paignton road and rail bridge reopens to traffic after delays

Traffic is now moving over the bridge again in both directions

A road bridge over a rail line in south Devon has reopened to traffic after delayed works took more than five months to complete.

Work to replace the Torbay Road bridge in Paignton was initially expected to finish in March.

Delays to the £1.5m the project included a "complex job" of working around fibre-optic cables.

Some work was continuing until July, but the road would only be closed to traffic overnight, project bosses said.

Pavements are also still to be completed.

Councillor Mike Morey, cabinet member for infrastructure at Torbay Council, said: "It's not only been inconvenient, to be honest it's been a nightmare on occasions.

"We've had emailing with the public - they've told us of their complete frustration and we have agreed."

Stuart Calvert, from Network Rail, said: "This bridge looks innocuous but it's an incredibly complicated bridge. The angle it is at, the skew it is at, and, more importantly, the services.

"We have got a railway underneath, a road on top and really important services, including some critical fibre-optic cables that serve Torbay - including the hospital.

"It was quite a complex job."