THE unsafe footbridge in Goodland Gardens in Taunton has been taken down this afternoon.

Contractors planned to lift the bridge with a crane, but the structure was taken down instead and it is now in the river.

The bridge started twisting while contractors tried to lift it with a crane.

One of the workers explained that the bridge, which has been closed since November 2022, was “too far gone to be safely removed, so had to be taken down”.

A photo of the dismantled bridgeA photo of the dismantled bridge (Image: Newsquest)

Workers and contractors are currently still on site to make the area safe.

A diversion is in place as the footpath near the river will be temporarily closed.

The closure will be in place until Thursday, August 1.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “The poor state of the bridge meant it could not be safely lifted out by crane in one piece.

"Instead, the contractors took another approach which was a controlled collapse of the bridge, then lifting the three smaller sections out individually.

"This was completed on Tuesday as planned.”

(Image: Newsquest)

The Goodland Gardens bridge was closed in November 2022 when the structure was deemed unsafe for use.

The findings of the structural surveys concluded that the footbridge was in poor condition with significant rot observed on multiple timber members.

Once the removal of the bridge is completed, reports will be brought back to Planning, Development and Licensing Committee.

The full council, in due course, will then consider options for Taunton Town Council to replace the bridge.

The cost of this will be upwards of £500,000 and investigations are ongoing into what grant funding may be available to support this cost.

The new footbridge would be a Taunton Town Council asset.