A POPULAR Exmoor footbridge has been closed for reasons of public safety with no date given for when it might be able to be reopened.

Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) said the bridge, which is about 70 years old, had become structurally unsound.

The bridge, above Hinds Pitt Pool, forms part of a popular circular walk which includes historic Tarr Steps, a ‘clapper bridge’ over the River Barle said to be thousands of years old and the longest and oldest of its kind in the UK.

ENPA said it was working on a plan for a long-term replacement of the bridge and in the meantime to reinstate public access on a permissive footpath crossing Hinds Pitt, near Tarr Steps.

The authority was also urgently considering temporary repairs which might be enough to allow the bridge to reopen.

ENPA access and recreation manager Dan Barnett said: “The bridge has been there since the 1950s and some key parts of the steel structure have deteriorated to a point where they are no longer safe.

“We hope to replace the bridge and secure public access once again here for the future.

“But, it will take some time to develop a plan in agreement with the relevant landowners and to raise the considerable funds required.

“It is possible that we can do some temporary modifications to allow the bridge to reopen while we plan for its replacement, and we are looking into that urgently.

“In the meantime, the Tarr Steps site is otherwise open for everybody to enjoy, including short walks there and back on either side of the river, and all the longer walks in the area are fully open, too.

“The popular long distance footpath the Two Moors Way is still passable using an alternative route on the west bank of the river.”