WATCHET'S rusting railway footbridge will be demolished within the next month - and legal experts suggest it will have to be replaced, with a new structure likely to be built before the end of the year.

The existing footbridge, which provides a vital pedestrian link between Brendon Road and Harbour Road, has been closed to the public for the past 15 months following fears over its safety.

Owners West Somerset Council, whose financial standing has been described as precarious, had been reluctant to dip into its moneypot to fund the estimated £130,000 cost of a new footbridge.

It even asked Council Taxpayers in Watchet if they would foot the lion's share of the bill - a request overwhelmingly rejected.

But now the district council has been told that although the footbridge is not a recorded Right of Way, it has to be considered as a dedicated Public Right of Way because it has been used as such for more than 20 years.

And any plans for its permanent removal would require permission from the Secretary of State, with the council forced to demonstrate that the right of way is no longer used and that there is an equally or comparable convenient alternative.

In a recent town poll, 518 out of 753 households who responded voted no to a suggestion that the town council should borrow the bulk of the money needed to build a replacement bridge.

Following that the district council's scrutiny committee recommended last November that the project should be included in the authority's 2011/12 capital programme.

And on Monday, cabinet members will be asked to approve the inclusion of the cost of designing, manufacturing and installing a replacement structure, with the final decision being taken by the full council in February.

The cash-strapped council will have to borrow the money, putting an estimated additional ten per cent a year on the overall figure in interest and capital repayment costs - paid for by Council Taxpayers across the district.

In a report to next week's cabinet meeting, environment services group manager Steve Watts said any work on the bridge had to be carried within the West Somerset Railway's two closure periods - January 4 to February 18 and November 1 to December 1.

So the plan was to demolish the bridge in February and replace it in November.

The cabinet will be asked to note the appointment of Wolverhampton-based Steelway Ltd, a specialised supplier of heritage and listed railway projects, for the work.

The estimated cost of demolition is £9,325, which is already included in the council's current year capital programme, with the replacement anticipated to come in around £130,000.

So far the council has the promise of £3,000, plus £6,000 in kind from the WSR, and £2,000 from local Somerset county councillor Anthony Trollope-Bellew but officers have pledged to continue to seek further external funding.

Town councillors welcomed news of the likely replacement footbridge when they were given an update on the situation at their monthly meeting on Monday.

Cllr Tony Knight, who represents the town on the district authority, said the replacement would be a 'like for like' structure but using a fibreglass-type material rather than concrete.

A galvanised protective coating would be applied to the steel beneath the painted surfaces to provide a projected life-span of at least 80 years in a marine environment.

Cllr Knight said a number of "extras" such as rivets - purely cosmetic - and Victorian lights were available but would all cost additional money.

He said under the district council's recently updated financial regulations, he was now part of a working group of three councillors overseeing the project.

Cllr Knight said he was 99.9 per cent certain that the plans to build a replacement footbridge would get the go-ahead.

Councillors praised Cllr Knight's efforts in securing the replacement and thanked him and fellow local district councillors Cllrs Dave Westcott and Jenny Hill for the part they had played.

Cllr Wendy Turner said: "I know the concerns there have been and there is general feeling of relief that you have managed to pull it off."

The existing bridge dates back to around 1884 and in 1968 when the railway line was closed - a victim of the Beeching cuts - it was transferred to the former Watchet Urban District Council, with ownership passing to West Somerset Council following local government reorganisation in 1974.