A MAJOR road bridge could be closed overnight every night until the weekend.

Last week, Durham County Council announced Milburngate Bridge, in Durham City, which is undergoing a £1 million repair job, would be closed overnight into yesterday (Sunday, August 23), today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday).

However, following bad weather over the weekend, the 1960s-built bridge may also have to be closed overnight into Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The council says it may not be necessary to close the bridge every night, depending on the weather this week, but is warning of the possibility.

The closures will be in place from 7pm to 6.30am. During the day, one lane in each direction will remain open.

There will be no need to close the Market Place. The footpaths on both sides of the bridge will be shut during the bridge closures, however.

The extra closures are necessary to ensure the repair job is completed by the start of next week, as scheduled.

The bridge usually carries 48,000 vehicles a day across the River Wear on the A690.

Terry Collins, the council’s corporate director for neighbourhood services, said: “We would like to thank users of the bridge for their patience during these essential overnight closures.”

Keep up to date with the latest traffic information at durham.gov.uk/milburngate or on Twitter, using #milburngate