A BRIDGE connecting St Brides to Duffryn, will be closed for six months leaving residents facing a ten mile diversion to get home.

Network Rail said essential improvements meant the Pheasants overbridge, which carried the B4239 Lighthouse Road over the railway, had to be closed.

Works began at the end of October and the route will be closed for six months until April 2013.

The diversion route in place is a 10-mile trip compared to the usual two miles from Duffryn to St Brides over the bridge.

Angry business owners are also claiming Network Rail only informed residents on the Duffryn side of the bridge, and did not inform residents in St Brides.

Sarah Price, 50, is the landlady of the Lighthouse Inn on Beach Road in St Brides, and says the closure of the bridge has already affected business.

Mrs Price said: "We only heard about the bridge closing because a regular from the Duffryn side of the bridge received a letter from National Rail saying it would be closing.

"I'm absolutely gutted because I signed the lease for the pub on October 25, and they put a sign up on the bridge saying it was to close on October 27. I was devastated.

"I'm just fuming angry that they can do this without even informing us. No one on this side of the bridge received one of these letters.

"It's already effecting business, there's no shadow of a doubt about it. The way this village is situated means it has shut off more than half my trade.

"Regulars would drive here, have a few drinks and then get a taxi home. But now the taxi fees will more than double because now it's 10 miles rather than two."

Frank Sheahan and his wife Danielle own the Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast.

Mr Sheahan said: "It was very, very difficult to understand what was going it. It wasn't clear if the bridge was being closed permanently or if it would be open on weekends or in the evenings.

"It was all very poorly organised. Why was only one side of the bridge informed?"

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “Network Rail authorised two letter drops to inform residents and businesses located near the Pheasants Overbridge and the St Brides Overbridge that improvements were due to take place in the near future.

“The first letter was sent out on 17th August 2012 and the second on 23rd October 2012. After the first letter was sent out the design developed and Network Rail got a better understanding of what utility services needed to be diverted and the time needed to undertake those diversions.

“As a result, the second letter gave more detail on the revised road closure programme. The letters were sent only to residents likely to be directly affected by the works.

They added the road will be closed from 5th November 2012 to 26th April 2013.

And that they are paying for an additional bus to supplement the bus service between Newport and St Brides.
“This additional bus service should allow residents to continue receiving the service they are used to throughout the road closure,” they said.