Devon County Council has announced that Newbridge at Gunnislake is on schedule to reopen by lunchtime on Good Friday.

Repair work has been completed a week ahead of schedule and teams are waiting for the lime mortar repairs to reach sufficient strength before they can reopen the bridge to traffic.

The historic bridge, which carries the A390 over the River Tamar on the Devon and Cornwall border, has been closed since it was struck by a vehicle earlier this month.

Motorists who have parked cars on either side of the bridge are requested to move them by Thursday April 18 to avoid congestion when the road reopens.

A Devon County Council spokesman said: ’Our teams have worked hard to complete the work and enable the road to open as soon as possible. While we wait for the lime mortar to achieve full strength we are taking the opportunity to carry out as much maintenance work as possible, including pointing to the traffic face of the parapets and removing a large tree from the river below which has been snagged against the bridge for some time.’