PEOPLE living in Eastham will face a 10 mile detour for many months.

Hopes that a temporary bridge can be in place soon have been dashed.

It will be many months at least before any plans for a temporary bridge over the River Teme can be in place.

Eastham Bridge, a grade II listed structure dating back to 1793, dramatically and suddenly collapsed on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 24.

There had been initial hopes that a temporary bridge could be put in place quickly with the Army perhaps involved but Worcestershire County Council have made it clear that it will be a long time before anything happens.

Marcus Hart, the County Council Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways, has squashed hopes of a temporary solution in the near future.

"Following conversations with the local farmer, the Environment Agency and with specialist engineering companies, contractors will be moving onto the site of Eastham Bridge,” he said.

“They will be preparing for work to clear the remains of the bridge from the river Teme, which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

"This will be painstaking work as our investigations into the cause of the collapse can't be completed until we have examined and removed every piece of rubble. I have visited the site and I understand the frustrations of those living and working close to the bridge but until we have the results of our investigations I cannot speculate about the cause.

"Looking further ahead we continue to look at all options. We have spoken to a number of partners including the army and English Heritage.

“Because of the complexity of this site it is likely to be the end of the summer before we have confirmed plans in place. In the meantime we are improving diversion signage and we will update local people as soon as we are able to."

People living in Eastham want answers as to why a bridge that was inspected only last December collapsed without warning on a calm spring afternoon.

At the time it fell the bridge was being used by mini-buses carrying children from Lindridge School to the village.

Worcestershire County Council has refused to comment on speculation that a contractor doing working for the authority may have been using the bridge to carry heavy lorries in the hours and days before it collapsed.

However, it has been revealed that in any event there was no weight restriction on the 200 year old bridge.

The Rev Robert Barlow, the vicar for Eastham, has told ‘the Advertiser’ how people are being affected by the long diversion. Those affected are not just families with children at the school in Lindridge but also businesses that are facing extra costs in time and money.

Because Eastham Bridge is designated as a historic monument any repairs will have to conform to strict standards both in the way that the work is done and the materials that are used.