THE Twin Sails Bridge has reopened after four months – but more repairs are still required.

Closed since early August, the second Poole Harbour crossing was brought back into use on Monday morning after a half-tonne pin was replaced.

But councillor Andy Hadley, cabinet member for transport, said further work would be required.

“I would like to thank our residents for putting up with the disruption, but especially thank all those who have been working incredibly hard over the past few weeks through high winds, rain and low temperatures to bring the bridge back into operation,” he said.

“Whilst this is good news to residents ahead of the holiday season, we must make it clear that more works are still required to fully repair the bridge.

“Our next priority is to ensure we have a longer-term solution to the issues affecting Twin Sails and we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.’’ The replacement part was delivered to the council more than a month ago but its installation was delayed to allow dredging to be carried out.

The bridge, which opened in 2012, has been plagued with issues forcing its closures for a total of more than six months.

Poole council also spent £1.3 million keeping it operational over the same period, having only set aside £730,000.

The latest closure began on August 9 after a fault was found in its lifting mechanisms.

A new main bearing pivot pin weighing just under half a tonne had to be ordered in and has now been installed, months after the original mid-autumn estimate for its completion.

Further works will be required but a council spokesman said it was not known at this stage whether these would require the bridge to be closed again.

But an “independent specialist” has been contracted to carry out a review of the long-term future of the lifting mechanisms.

The council said work to rectify remaining issues with the structure would continue once their report had been published.