THE next attempt to move the Inglis Bridge onto Vauxhall Fields will now take place at the end of February with an estimated completion date in June, according to MP for Monmouthshire Catherine Fookes.

She said that: “After many months of my office working to help expedite these works so they could begin as soon as possible, I know it’s very disappointing that they are now unlikely to proceed until the end of this month, with completion now expected in June. “

“I will continue working closely with them to help make sure the project is completed as quickly as possible.”

Cllr Jane Lucas who has also been co-ordinating with the MOD and the contractors said, “it is disappointing news that the project will now be delayed.

“They had three attempts to lift it but the weight of the bridge was too much for the crane.

“So they are going to remove the crane and start with another plan.”

It has been alleged that a section of hedgerow adjacent to the Morespan chicken sheds was removed without warning and the road was widened with quarried stone to possibly cater for the width of the crane.

A spokesman for Morspan Holdings said that the hedgerow belonged to them and previous planning applications by them to remove the hedge to remodel the chicken shed site has been turned down.

“I only found out that the hedge had been removed without permission when I went to check on the site,” he said.

He also alleged that they had taken about a metre of their boundary to lay the quarried stone to widen the road at that point.

The MOD- owned Inglis Bridge is due to be moved from its position onto a scaffolding structure on Vauxhall Fields for repair, so access to and from Vauxhall Fields can be made possible again.