THE good news is that Poole's £37 million Twin Sails Bridge has finally been lowered, after more than a fortnight stuck in the upright position.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that it has only been lowered so engineers can carry out "urgent exploratory works."

Hard-hit residents will still be unable to use the crossing until the problem is fixed, and no-one knows quite when this will be.

The bridge closed to all traffic more than two weeks ago, and up until now has been stuck in the upright position.

Borough of Poole (BOP) confirmed there was a "serious fault" with the structure last week.

Hamworthy residents thought Christmas had come early when they noticed the bridge had been lowered.

However, a BOP spokesman dashed their hopes by confirming: "The Twin Sails will be in the lowered position until 5.30am, Saturday, December 8.

"It will remain in the lowered position during this period to allow urgent exploratory works to be undertaken to the bridge."