A CROSSING over England's fastest flowing river - washed away in the floods of 2000 - could finally be restored before the end of the year.

Reeth's swing bridge, built by public subscription in the 1920s, was damaged beyond repair 18 months ago.

An important crossing for ramblers enjoying the Swaledale countryside, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority began a hunt for cash to cover the cost of a replacement.

The Department of the Environment, Richmondshire District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust all contributed towards the £110,000 bill.

Another £3,000 was raised by local people, who backed a public appeal launched by Richmond MP, William Hague.

However, all the hard work appeared to have been in vain six months ago when the owner of the land insisted more work was done on the banks of the river.

David Sizer was adamant the abutments of the old bridge often caused flooding on his property - and he wanted the construction of a crossing to include a solution. National park chiefs claimed his demands would add an estimated £40,000 to the cost of the project - putting the whole scheme in jeopardy.

They even threatened to return grants to the agencies that had offered to help, as well as to local people who helped with fundraising.

However, protracted talks since have led to an agreement in principle with Mr Sizer - and the replacement bridge seems likely to go up this summer.

"We have agreed a contract for the construction of the bridge off site and, with issues with the landowner agreed in principle, we would expect work to start at Reeth in June," said a spokesman for the National Park Authority.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community, which has supported this project throughout, as well as all our funding partners.

"Hopefully, we are closer to getting this project realised and closer to what everyone wants - to get this bridge back in place and open for public use," he said.