TRAFFIC through a village will be back to normal this weekend because bridge repairs have finished two weeks early.

Strengthening work on Slack Bridge, on the B6282 at Butterknowle, Teesdale, will end tomorrow night. The £37,000 contract, carried out by Durham County Council's construction arm Service Direct, is part of a programme of bridge strengthening throughout the county to cater for 40-tonne Euro lorries.

The work involved demolishing and replacing the reinforced concrete bridge deck, dismantling and rebuilding the masonry parapets, waterproofing, resurfacing and reinstating the verges