Selby's former toll bridge, which will close from 8pm on Friday, March 27, to 6am on Monday, March 30

by Dennis Towle

County Hall top brass today issued an unprecedented public apology to the people of Selby over its handling of the controversial closure of the town's former toll bridge.

"We made a mess of it," confessed North Yorkshire County Council's director of environmental services, Mike Moore.

"The consultation has been mishandled, and staff have been made aware that it must not happen again.

"We can't just descend on a community and cut it off without adequate consultation.

"I would like to apologise to the people of Selby, and also to businesses because the closure is at a critical part of the week for commerce."

The county authority came under fire earlier this week when it was accused of taking a unilateral decision to close the former toll bridge from 8pm on Friday, March 27, to 6am on Monday, March 30.

With flak being fired at county hall from all directions, Mr Moore instructed staff to get on the telephone immediately and talk to local companies about what could be done to mitigate the impact.

He said: "Consultation is the key and I'm extremely concerned that we didn't consult earlier."

County highways engineers said they had no option but to close the bridge completely to carry out decking repairs. They had hoped to keep the bridge open, but with men working so closely to passing traffic, health and safety regulations would not allow it.

But furious district councillors and shopkeepers said they had not been consulted, and claimed it would be disastrous for town centre businesses, pubs and taxi drivers.

The bridge forms part of the A19 trunk road, and is Selby's main entrance.

District councillor Ron Humphrys fumed: "It's been a monumental cock-up by people in offices over 40 miles away who haven't got a clue about Selby's problems.

"This is a decision to close Selby for a whole weekend, and they didn't even have the courtesy to consult the local authority."

Barlby parish councillor and taxi driver Denis Marshall said trade in Selby was bad enough already.

He said: "They've repaired the bridge before using traffic lights, and there's no reason why they can't do the same again.

"People are going to struggle to get to work at the Barlby factories, and there could be big problems for the emergency services. The whole thing's a fiasco."

Selby fire station chief Phil Wade said he had received a letter from county hall only yesterday about the closure. An appliance from York would stand by at the Barlby side over the weekend.

North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said they didn't appear to have any letter, but had been informed by police. An ambulance would be stationed at Barlby police station during the closure period.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.