A DEATH-TRAP bridge has been demolished after the BEN revealed schoolchildren were still using it.

The timber bridge at Harwood Country Park was closed and blocked off more than three months ago but children were ignoring keep out notices and still using it as a short cut to school.

A council spokesman warned that "the bridge could go at any time" and the wood in the 20-year-old structure had become so soft you could push a pencil into it.

Residents of nearby Ashdene Crescent raised the alarm about the bridge after calling for it to be repaired or replaced and put back into use.

News that the bridge was still in use prompted council chiefs to urgently look at what other safety steps they could take and also prompted headteacher of nearby Canon Slade School Dr Peter Shepherd to send a notice round warning pupils to stay off. This week council engineers removed the wooden structure and erected new safety barriers much to the delight of residents.

Ashdene Crescent resident Steve Howarth, who first raised the alarm over the state of the bridge, said: "It is only half the battle won but we are very pleased that this dangerous bridge has been taken away.

"I have to say that it was closed for more than three months and nothing was done but within three days of the piece appearing in the BEN it has gone. I think the council could have acted sooner."

Now Mr Howarth is calling on the council to build a new bridge to make it easier for hundreds of people to use the park area.

"The problems with getting rid of the bridge is that access to the park is limited," he said. "It was always a useful short-cut and the knock-on effect is that more children are now being taken to school in their cars when a new, safe bridge would be the ideal solution."

Mr Howarth said when he and other residents contacted the council they were told they simply didn't have the cash.

A planning spokesman confirmed they had acted following the BEN report.

"Once we heard that children were still using it we decided to act," the spokesman said. "We were going to have to demolish it sooner or later anyway and it seemed better to do it now."

He added that the estimated £30,000 needed to replace the bridge was not available in this year's budget but there were long term plans to reinstate the bridge.