AN HISTORIC road bridge is facing a lengthy closure for a second time in three years sparking calls for a by-pass.

Major repairs to the County Bridge in Barnard Castle will cause mass disruption at the height of the tourist season it was claimed yesterday.

Councillors in the town reinforced their calls for a by-pass after Durham County Council revealed details of the two-week closure during school summer holidays to repair damage caused when a low loader ploughed into the 16th Century parapet last week.

Coun Ken Coates said: "People will put up with it if it's just for a fortnight but we haven't got a decent infrastructure in the North-East.

"If this had happened in the South we would have a by-pass by now. I have been a district councillor for Barnard Castle for 24 years and we have been asking for a by-pass all this time. We need north-east MPs to do something.''

But businessman Bill Oldfield, who owns Oldfield's Restaurant in the town, said that a by-pass was not the answer because Barnard Castle relied on a lot of passing trade.

He said: "People want to find the quickest way from A to B and they will not stop off to visit once they are on their way.''

Mr Oldfield, who is also Chairman of Teesdale Marketing which represents 50 businesses, urged councillors to fight the decision to close the bridge in the middle of the tourist season.

He said: "I would like to see people battle very hard to get the County Council to change their mind. This isn't only going to affect Barnard Castle. People use that road to get to Middleton-in Teesdale and High Force.

"The tourist season was destroyed last year because of the foot and mouth it would be a savage blow to close the bridge at that time.''

Chris Tunstall, director of environment and technical services at the County Council said up to 40 metres of the parapet will have to be taken down and rebuilt.

He said: "We appreciate the upheaval that this causes to the people of Barnard Castle but the bridge cannot be repaired safely without closing the road.

"Following on from our experience of similar closures in 1998 and 1999 we will be pulling out all the stops to get the work done in as short a time as possible.''