A CRISIS meeting is being held to develop action to protect a listed bridge from further damage.

Over the past 15 years, North Yorkshire County Council has spent more than £30,000 repairing Blakey Bridge in Sowerby, near Thirsk, which is regularly damaged by vehicles. It is has been closed until the end of July after a BMW car smashed into it, demolishing one side.

Sowerby Parish Council has now called a meeting of all interested bodies to try to resolve the issue.

Parish council chairman Councillor Mark Robson said: "If there is some means of controlling the vehicles getting access to the bridge, it needs to be looked at.

"I would not want to see the road closed permanently, and I don't think a one-way system is the answer.

"I hope the county council comes on board on this, and listens to what is said and then comes up with a solution. It's time we got a resolution to this, as it's costing a fortune to repair."

Blakey Lane stretches from Front Street to the A168 and is used by lorries, cars and farm traffic.

Eddy Hayward, the county's area manager for highways in Thirsk, is to attend the meeting.

He said: "The problem in the past has been lorries that have ignored the warning signs and attempted to cross the bridge.

"We have done some major changes there in the past couple of years, to discourage that from happening. But when lorry drivers check their sat-navs for the quickest route, it sends them down this country lane.

"We have talked to the parish council about other measures, but it's a question of whether they are appropriate or not."

The meeting will be at Sowerby Parochial Hall, at 7.30pm, next Tuesday.

County councillor Gareth Dadd said: "I would support looking at any option to reduce the damage being done to the bridge. I will be pushing very hard for a quick re-opening of it to traffic."

Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh, also wants action to prevent further damage to the bridge.