A MAJOR revamp of a railway bridge in Cardenden has begun.

Local residents have previously raised concerns about the state of the bridge which connects the station's two platforms.

Councillor Rosemary Liewald confirmed that work has now started and is due to be completed before Christmas.

"This all began about 18 months ago when I was approached by some residents and the state of the treads on the bridge was highlighted," she explained.

"I came and had a look and they appeared to have rusted through and were quite dangerous.

"Network Rail were contacted and agreed to come out and, at that particular time, they only replaced about four of the treads. We were then told the bridge would be placed into a work rota and further work would then take place but that was about 18 months ago and there were still concerns about the state of the bridge and everyone felt it should be progressed as quickly as possible but nothing had taken place.

"Last week a full team pitched up at the station and began to carry out what looked like a major piece of work."

Cllr Liewald and local community representatives met members of the Network Rail team at the station and were delighted that work was being carried out."

Essentially the over platform bridge from platform one to platform two is going to have a full replacement of entire treads up and down and the top walking platform, the surface of that is going to be completely replaced and will get a sort of tarmac covering which will be completely re-done," she added.

"The entire structure of the bridge is going to be checked and reinforced. The rust that has appeared over the years is going to be removed and treated and then the entire bridge is going to be repainted.

"We are absolutely delighted. The work itself is due to be completed hopefully by December 13. It is a really thorough job."