Email: Sutton Weaver Bridge

On a cynical note, as British Waterways is now in its death knell before 'charitable status'' all it needs to do is to get a road sign  manufacturer to manufacture some suitable signs simply stating 'Bridge Closed due to unsafe structure'.

Plonk them in front of the access to the bridge with appropriate amounts of orange webbing fencing blocking off even pedestrians. They already do it to towpaths and canal bridges arbitrarily if a structure is inspected and declared 'unsafe' by 'engineers', so why not do it to the road swing bridge over the Weaver that carries a main road in the same way that they do it to small farm tracks single track bridges over the canal network?

Equally, wait until the waterways are under 'charitable status', then simply open the swing bridge to allow the waterway to be opened to navigation. Just don't close it to allow road traffic back again. Leave the appropriate flashing warning lights flashing.  The electricity bill will be far less than the multimillion pound repair bill.

Then put up notices along the lines of 'The Canal & River Trust charity managing our waterways can no longer afford to maintain this swing bridge without direct local/national government financial assistance for this structure'.

Now, does anyone in British Waterways management have the b--ls to do that because they will be being made redundant anyway?

Equally, will anyone within the new Canal & River Trust have the nerve to do something like this with a view to it being a way to challenging the government about the obviously well planned, and no doubt will happen, underfunding of the new charitable trust?

Paul Fontaine