REPAIRS to Selby's swing bridge are continuing to cause controversy after councillors were critical of the standard of work carried out.

Selby North Councillor Kevin Aston took bits of the bridge's weather-proofing caulking to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council's area four sub-committee, which he said were littering the repair site.

"I have visited the bridge and some of the boards are moving as cars drive over them," he said.

"Others are flexing under HGVs and the caulking, which is supposed to stop rain getting under the boards, is hanging out at the sides."The work has only just been completed and already the bridge is showing signs of deteriorating."

Other councillors said they had received also complaints about the state of the bridge and the health and safety regulations observed when work was being carried out.

And several questioned why it had been necessary to close the bridge when the first part of the work was carried out, but then allow one-way traffic allow to pass over it when the second stage of the repairs were being done.

Council officers were called upon to inspect the work and told to submit written reports on the standard of workmanship they found.But Coun Aston said that even if the contractors were called back to remedy the situation it would not help local businesses, who suffered when the bridge was closed.

He told the sub-committee: "I am concerned at the calibre of the contractors called in to do the job and of the council officers, who have overseen the work."

He said afterwards: "I think the whole thing has been a disgrace from start to finish.

"I am certainly not satisfied - despite paying out £70,000 for the bridge repairs the bridge is basically back at square one.

"Even if the county council does not have to pay any more, local businesses like taxis and nightclubs are losing trade and being made to bear the cost of all of this."

An experimental scheme to stop vehicles using Finkle Street, in Selby, has been made permanent.

Finkle Street has been closed to through traffic since April 25 and it has proved a success, reducing traffic in the street by 82 per cent.

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