FEARS have been raised over bridge dangers in one Herefordshire village. 

The "strong concerns" over the state of Ashperton railway bridge were raised by councillors at a recent meeting of the Pixley and District Parish Council, draft minutes reveal.

The bridge, which is inspected by National Rail every 12 months, had received a score of 86 under the rail network operator's rating system with a mitigation action plan put in place if the total score is 90 or more.

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The score meant no action was taken, the draft minutes said.

Network Rail and Balfour Beatty Living Places representatives had visited the bridge with councillors, with the minutes revealing that they had "agreed that there was very little barrier material between the road surface and the steep drop to the railway line".

The minutes also said a National Rail report stated they recognised this was a risk to their assets and "strongly recommend" a mitigation action, while a Balfour Beatty report said this would require concrete anchorage at certain corners of the bridge as there are no verges.

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The council strongly recommends that a vehicle restraint system is put in place due to safety implications, the minutes said.

Councillors resolved that they would like to record that they have "strong concerns over the current state of the bridge", issues with the verges, traffic speed, and volume of traffic. 

"The council request that an immediate plan is put in place to install a vehicle restraining system and a traffic calming system, such as traffic lights, to prevent future incidents occurring on or near the bridge approaches," the minutes said.