AFTER living in Eastham for nearly 90 years a former farmer says there is no point trying to repair and rebuild the village's bridge.

Jim Froggatt, aged 92, who now lives in Tenbury says any plan for a temporary bridge to replace the 220-year-old grade II listed bridge that dramatically and suddenly collapsed in May is a waste of time.

The former farmer is also forecasting chaos on the country roads that serve Eastham.

Mr Froggatt says that work should start as soon as possible on a new double carriageway bridge upstream of the one that collapsed.

“It would be much more sensible just to get on with building the new bridge upstream of the existing one where visibility would be much better from the A443,” he said.

The D-Day veteran who moved to Tenbury in 2011 also believes that there is no point in trying to rebuild the old bridge.

“It has fallen down and that is it,” he said.

“There is no requirement to rebuild a grade II listed bridge that cannot take modern traffic.

“Everything including structures and people have their time and we have to accept that it has gone. I see no sentimental reason why we should waste time rebuilding it.”

Jim Froggatt who was not allowed to serve in the front line for much of the Second World War because of his work as a farmer eventually served as an Observer on a ship off-shore on D-Day.

“I remember that there was some work done during the war to put down cement on the foundations to the bridge to stop water getting in and there was a lot of vegetation growing from it,” he said.

“But I do not know why it collapsed and, like everyone else, took it on trust that it had been inspected and was safe.”

Jim Froggatt said that as a boy he had used Eastham Bridge to go to school, including riding the 13 miles to Kidderminster each day.

He said he remembers a temporary bailey bridge being put over the River Teme at Eastham by the Army in the Second World War but does not think this would work even as a temporary solution.

However, he does believe that the narrow country road between Eastham and Tenbury will become chaotic.

But he believes that it may be possible to improve the situation on the road by seeing if the country lanes can be widened in places and temporary passing-places created.

“There is going to be a lot of heavy farm traffic, including tractors, using these narrow country lanes and it will be chaos,” he added.

“It is also going to cost people a lot of money with a 20-mile round trip with all the associated fuel cost and wear-and-tear on vehicles.”