Drivers in a Buckinghamshire town will face week-long delays while a local council carries out 'urgent' repairs to width-restriction bollards. 

Buckinghamshire Highways has warned motorists in Marlow that traffic control measures are expected to cause delays along the town's High Street for five days this month whilst bollard repair works take place on its Grade-I listed bridge.

The repairs will be carried out from Monday, February 19 to Friday, February 23, between the hours of 9:30am and 3:30pm.

The traffic management will consist of two-way light signals, which the council has warned are expected to cause moderate delays.

At the beginning of January, eagle-eyed residents noticed that the bolts attaching the bollards on Marlow bridge to width-restrictive metal plates had been removed, decreasing the deterrent posed to large vehicles breaching the bridge's three-tonne weight limit. 

Speaking in the first week of the year, Peter Martin, Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport at Buckinghamshire Council, told the Free Press that the bolts had been removed after the bollards were damaged by an oversized vehicle.

Mr Martin said: "Buckinghamshire Highways are making urgent arrangements to repair the damage caused to the width restriction bollards.

“The bollards have been assessed and at present, they are in a safe state with their top plate(s) either removed or secured in place.

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“During the interim period before the repairs are complete, the signposted width restriction and the physical deterrent measures are still in place at the bridge, however, the southbound carriageway in the direction from Marlow to Bisham is temporarily wider than desirable.

"The passable gaps will be returned back to their previous widths on completion of the repair work."

A spokesperson for local charity the Marlow Society said they were pleased to learn of the replacement works but continued to harbour doubt about the commitment of local authorities to ensuring the longevity of the crossing.

They said: "We have also received a list of (other) works, including the remaining painting of the bridge and the replacement of bearings that will take place over the next year.

"(However), the Marlow Society worries about the long-term future of the bridge, and a solution to the overweight vehicle use is still to be found - whether it is the elusive Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) enforcement or simple height barriers."

Residents in Marlow staged an orchestrated clean-up of the bridge earlier this month in response to the perceived dilapidation of the historic structure, with one person describing its appearance as "embarrassing".

Bernard Guly, who organised the "symbolic clean", told the Free Press that he believes the bridge has been subject to "real neglect and deterioration" which Buckinghamshire Council are hoping will "just go away".

He also hinted that a similar demonstration could be on the cards once again after the issue proved to "really resonate" with people in the town.