A farmer is pleading for help following a decision by the council to close a Grade 2 listed bridge at Tintern which is due a major refurbishment in late 2022.

Caroline Simpson says that the old railway bridge at Tintern, jointly owned by Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire county councils, has been shut and made impassable to cars.

The joint project to renovate the bridge means access to farmland has been denied to them.

Previous assessments by the councils of the condition of the crossing said that repairs are needed to prevent the bridge from becoming unsafe to use.

A Gloucestershire Council spokesperson said in March this year: "The inspections will be followed by an assessment of the work required to fully refurbish the bridge and a detailed design of the preferred option will be put together later this year."

Caroline has started an online petition in an effort to get the bridge reopened so she and others can continue to use the bridge for work and pleasure.

"My parents bought Ferry Farm in Tintern with a right of way to access it over Tintern Bridge and this is our only passable access and it has now been taken away from us by the two councils’ she said in a plea online.

"The old bridge has been neglected for as long as I can remember and whilst it is in desperate need of superficial repair and maintaining, it is not structurally unsafe".

She has had an independent engineer’s assessment carried out which deemed the bridge structurally safe and could see no valid reasons to close it to us and deny access to her land.

"Emergency services are now also unable to cross the bridge, just last week a cyclist knocked a pedestrian down" she added.

Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) also use it as they have the farmer’s permission to use the river landing if needed whilst exercising and for emergencies.

She says her elderly parents, who have campaigned their whole lives to keep public rights of way open along The River Wye for boaters, have been upset and distressed as they have "barely been consulted" with regards to their plans, equipment and farm machinery which is now now trapped and unaccessable.

The bridge has been identified in a Wye Valley project for possible public access to the lands with permission from the landowner

You can sign the petition to keep Tintern bridge open at Change.org

A spokesman for Monmouthshire County Council said that although they share responsibility for managing the various cross border bridges, Gloucestershire oversees the Wireworks Bridge at Tintern.

"The structure of the bridge has been assessed and it cannot safely support vehicles. Warning signs have been ignored or removed, so to ensure the safety of the public and bridge users, an emergency order has been put in place closing the bridge to vehicular traffic. It remains open to cyclists and pedestrians.

’’To enforce the closure, a bollard was erected either end. I’m very concerned to hear a car has repeatedly rammed the bollard to knock it down.

"Gloucestershire County Council is seeking to work with the affected property occupiers (on the English side).

"Works to repair and refurbish the bridge are expected to start at the end of this financial year and into next year, with the costs shared equally between the two councils."

Kath Haworth, Head of Highways for GCC said: "We fully appreciate the inconvenience caused to residents and businesses who are impacted by the closure of this bridge to vehicles and apologise for the disturbance. However, this closure is necessary because of the deterioration in the condition of the bridge which has several defects, cracking and widespread corrosion and we have a duty to ensure users of the bridge are safe.

"At the moment the bridge has been closed to vehicles so the bridge is only to be used by pedestrians and cyclists.

’’Joint work with Monmouthshire County Council is planned to repair the bridge in Autumn 2022.

’’Meanwhile, we will work with those who are particularly struggling with the impact of the closure to see what more we can do to support them."