The long-term future of a city bridge which council leaders wanted to weld shut, but were blocked from doing so because of a legal row, remains unclear.

Norfolk County Council is about to spend £20,000 on repairs on the 101-year-old Carrow Bridge, close to Norwich City's Carrow Road football ground.

Carrow Bridge in NorwichCarrow Bridge in Norwich (Image: Archant)

But County Hall is still hoping for a long-term solution, so it can reduce how much it has to regularly spend to maintain the bridge.

In 2021, the council's Conservative-controlled cabinet agreed to spend £150,000 to fix Carrow Bridge, which lifts to allow vessels to pass on the River Wensum beneath it, into place.

The council said welding it in place would cut maintenance costs, because deck panels regularly have to be fixed because they are shaken loose by traffic.

The authority had mulled over spending more than £2m on a three-month repair scheme which would allow the bridge to keep lifting, but instead decided to look into fixing it in place.

But the council's plan was blocked by the Broads Authority.

The authority said it would be "totally unacceptable" to weld the bridge shut, as the Norwich Corporation Act 1920 states it must be able to open to allow vessels to get to the port of Norwich.

That means the council is having to keep spending money on maintaining the bridge.

The latest work will be done between 7pm and 5am on Thursday, August 22 and Friday, August 23.

But the county council is still hoping for a longer-term solution, so it doesn't have to repair the bridge so often.

A council spokesman said: "These latest works are part of our ongoing maintenance programme to keep the road over the bridge operational.

"No resolution over the bridge's long-term future has presently been reached but we continue to liaise with the Broads Authority and city council to find a suitable solution."

One scenario, which could potentially enable the bridge to be welded shut, would be if a new marina for Norwich is created.

Such a marina has been mooted as part of the East Norwich Masterplan, proposals to regenerate the area around the Deal Ground, Utilities Site and the former Colman's site.

Council leaders hope that could satisfy the legal requirement of access to the port of Norwich for boats and revive their plans for Carrow Bridge.