CAMPAIGNERS who successfully petitioned for cash to restore Marlow Bridge want reassurances the work being carried out will not be a 'bodge job'.

Transport chief Cllr Val Letheren announced £60,000 had been found for the project in April after a petition was signed by over 1,000 campaigners.

Work has already begun to restore the town's most iconic landmark, which Marlow Community Forum said had become 'scruffy'.

But forum members are unhappy they have had no response from Buckinghamshire County Council to a letter requesting details of the work.

The forum said it wants to ensure all the improvements necessary are made and are not sure the money allocated will be sufficient.

Spokesman Jo Braybrooke said: “It's not good enough. The forum say it's great to have the £60,000 but how far is it going to go and what are they going to do?

“Will it be enough and would we need to raise some extra money? We just want answers.”

A 'schedule of condition', listing the repairs, was agreed, she added, but this had also not been sent.

A statement from BCC saying 'repairs are urgently needed' also concerned Mrs Braybrooke, who said this contradicted its previous stance.

“We were told the bridge was fine and it didn't need it until they found this money.

"Suddenly there are urgent repairs and we want to know what they are,” she said.

“We are glad the work is starting but we want it to be done properly, not a bodge job.”

BCC spokesman Suzanna Ghosh told the Free Press the 'urgent repairs' were purely cosmetic and not in any way to do with the structure.

She said a response to the forum's concerns in the letter was currently being drafted.

Furthermore, the group would receive a full response to the original petition from the Marlow Local Area Forum – a committee comprising county, district and parish councillors and representatives from the police, health authority and other organisations.

Its role is 'to strengthen local democratic accountability by empowering locally elected councillors to take decisions, shape and influence service delivery and Council priorities in the local community area.'

Sixteen weeks of repair work began on July 5.

It will include replacing timber sections, repainting parapets and generally improving the aesthetics of the bridge.