FISHING businesses have said the replacement of a temporary footbridge in a North Yorkshire town will have a “huge impact” on them.

Scarborough Borough Council said the repairs to Whitby’s West Pier bridge will be carried out from June 11 during the first two months of the angling season, as it needs to be done before the start of the school holidays and the main tourist season.

The work on installing a new bridge is expected to take six weeks.

But Jackie Greaves, from Whitby Angling Supplies, said: “We’ll have no use of the pier and no mackerel fishing, which is going to have a huge impact on everybody in the town, and we have to ask ourselves: why now?”

Coun Mike Cockerill, who represents the Filey ward on North Yorkshire County Council, said: “I can empathise with anglers who will temporarily lose access to the pier extension.

“But I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of people in Whitby and the many thousands of visitors who come to the town every year will be delighted to see this new bridge installed on schedule and on budget.”