A BRIDGE on a busy main road is to be closed for two weeks for rebuilding work to be carried out because lorries keep smashing into it.

Durweston Bridge, on the A357, will be closed on Saturday for two weeks while Dorset County Council rebuilds stone parapets damaged by heavy goods vehicles.

A spokesman for the council said: "Various ways to complete the project were investigated but, for safety reasons, it is not feasible to allow vehicles across such a narrow bridge while works are going on."

The historic Grade II listed 18th century bridge has suffered in a number of accident involving HGVs in recent years and was shut twice in 2005 when a lorry ploughed into it days after it was repaired following a similar accident.

Concrete blocks were installed as a temporary measure after the parapets were hit by the lorry and by a crane and some repairs were carried out last year.

Now the county council's in house contractor Dorset Works Organisation will carry out further repair work, using stone and lime mortar to match the original masonry.

Since the last accident, traffic lights on the approach from Blandford have been altered to try to tackle the problem and protect the bridge.

The traffic lights now operate in three phases instead of two, so HGVs can turn left onto the bridge without encountering any vehicles coming in the opposite direction, giving them a wider turning arc and more space to avoid the parapets.

The bridge will be closed until April 15 but will be temporarily re-opened over the Easter weekend to cater for the expected rise in the number of vehicles using the route over the holiday period.

While the work is carried out diversions will be in place via Shaftesbury and Stalbridge.