A NEWLY renovated bridge is been given a protective surface to help keep it looking good in the future.

Durham County Council is carried out the work at Elvet Bridge, in Durham, as part of its programme to give the city a deep clean this summer.

The medieval bridge, which has been undergoing restoration work, has now been covered with a protective surface to prevent staining and make future maintenance easier.

Councillor Brian Stephens, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “We know both how proud local people are of Durham and that our city welcomes thousands of visitors from around the world every year, so it’s incredibly important that it looks as good as it possibly can.”

Work has been done on the grade one listed scheduled ancient monument to waterproof the bridge deck, realign and replace worn and broken paving, and create loading bays on the approaches to the bridge, with wider areas for pedestrians that are also robust enough to deal with emergency and delivery vehicle access.

It was part of a £1.84m project to repair and improve roads and footpaths in the city centre over a two-year period.

Work to clean the bridge and install the new protective covering began on Tuesday, with some pedestrian and local traffic restrictions in place overnight for up to seven days.

Once complete, the council will then move on to clean the Magdalene Steps, at the junction with Saddler Street, then part of Saddler Street.

Cleaning work has already taken place in the Market Place and Millennium Place.