THE money has been secured for the replacement Eastham Bridge over the River Teme.

Worcestershire Council has dipped into its reserves to find the £2million need to pay for the new bridge.

The work on the new bridge has already started and is pressing ahead.

It is believed that all of the work needed on the bed of the River Teme has been completed and that the new bridge is on target for completion in spring of next year.

Children at Lindridge School, across the other side of the bridge from Eastham, are to show their confidence that the work will be completed on schedule by planting 500 crocus bulbs that should be in bloom in time for the opening of the new bridge.

The bulbs have been provided by the Royal Horticultural Society as part of a national ‘end polio’ campaign.

Celia Adams, who lives and farms in Eastham, says that people living in the village are not looking forward to the winter and the prospect of the long diversion made necessary by the collapse of the bridge.

The new bridge will be the same size as the one that fell down in May and follow the same path. Because of this the planning requirements and environmental studies that could have delayed the project will not be necessary.

Eastham Bridge collapsed without any warning on a quiet spring afternoon in May. It happened at the time when mini-buses were ferrying children from Lindridge School to the village.

One of the mini buses was approaching the bridge when it started to collapse but fortunately no one was on the bridge at the time and no one was hurt.

Worcestershire County Council has always said that the bridge has been properly inspected with the last inspection taking place in December 2015.

An interim report has said that the foundations of the bridge that was built in 1793 had been undermined by the River Teme but the full explanation for the collapse has not been published.

Initially villagers were promised that priority would be given to putting in place a temporary bridge that would be ready by the autumn.

But this was ruled out when it was revealed that a temporary structure would require a special environmental survey.

It was then decided that the best thing to do would be to move directly to a new bridge on the line of the one that collapsed.

Villagers have expressed concern about the delays involved when fire engines and ambulances are called to incidents in Eastham.

It has also been revealed that the community first responder who would be called to an emergency in Eastham lives in Lindridge on the other side of the River Teme.

Children travelling every day from Eastham to Lindridge School are having to get up earlier and get home later because of a diversion that adds more than half an hour to their daily journey.

People living in the village have been told that there is no facility to claim for additional fuel and transport costs resulting from the collapse of the bridge.