NEW problems have come to light during 10 days maintenance work on Poole Bridge which will mean a series of night-time closures in May.

The planned maintenance work was completed on time – despite variable message signs on Friday morning declaring the lifting bridge was still closed – with the 86-year-old bridge re-opening to traffic at midnight on Thurs-day.

However, during the scheduled work engineers discovered the traffic barrier controls had become corroded.

Borough of Poole leader Cllr Elaine Atkinson said: “As these traffic barriers are integral to the overall safety system which allows the bridge to open, it is important that they operate reliably. We therefore made the decision to replace these as soon as possible.”

The council says that although it is impossible to confirm the exact cost of the recently-completed maintenance work and the new barriers at this stage, the project will be completed within budget.

John Rice, Borough of Poole engineering and maintenance manager explained: “During the course of the works some additional issues have come to light which require remedial action. “Although we have already been able to resolve some of these issues, we did not want to delay the re-opening of Poole Bridge on Friday.

Cllr Atkinson said: “The replacement barriers have been ordered and we intend to install these over four consecutive nights in May. “During these evenings Poole Bridge will be closed to road traffic from midnight to 5.30am. With the Twin Sails Bridge operating as normal we hope disruption to road users will be kept to a minimum.”

Work was budgeted at £50,000 to £70,000 and included new warning lights and columns, refurbishment of worn nose bolts, repairing or replacing external floodlights and damaged barriers, inspection of wiring and other maintenance.