Whitby's swing bridge improvement works set to begin

Whitby's landmark town centre swing bridge was built in 1909

A series of improvements on a 100-year-old swing bridge in North Yorkshire is set to begin.

The £250,000 upgrade on the bridge in Whitby includes repairs to its east and west piers, new navigation lights and repainting.

The bridge's computerised technology will be updated so faults can be tracked and located precisely.

It is part of a £4m project to improve the town's transport network, which includes a new park-and-ride scheme.

The bridge will be closed overnight on Wednesday and Thursday between 21:30 and 06:00 BST for the computer equipment to be updated.

Councillor Joe Plant said: "Whitby is rightly proud of its historic bridge and we therefore have a duty to keep it in good working order and to install the latest technologies to minimise mechanical failure.

"This work marks the beginning of a whole package of works designed to reduce congestion in the town and improve life for Whitby's residents and its ever increasing numbers of tourists."

The new park-and-ride scheme will be constructed on the A171 west of Whitby and is expected to be ready for operation by spring 2014.