A BRIDGE failure which left a town cut in two earlier this year could have been caused by a manufacturing flaw.

The resort of Whitby was effectively cut in half when the swing bridge across the Esk estuary became stuck in the open position during the summer.

Two reports into the incident were commissioned by Scarborough Borough Council and they will be discussed by the authority next week.

The key findings of the reports indicate that the specification of the gearbox - the part that failed - should have been well within the bridge’s operating parameters.

It is therefore suspected that a lack of maintenance was not the cause of the failure but that a manufacturing flaw might have contributed to it.

And an inspection when the bridge was closed has suggested that any vibrations caused by traffic were not transmitted to the drive shaft and therefore are not thought to have contributed to the failure.

The reports can be found on the authority’s website at scarborough.gov.uk/whitbyswingbridge