The reopening of a road which had left residents frustrated for more than a year while closed has been met with delight.

Dendron Road, which connects the villages of Leece and Dendron, has been closed to all traffic since November 2020 to allow for repairs of an ageing culvert which runs under the carriageway.

In a written response to Councillor Ben Cooper, Cumbria County Council’s highways department confirmed it is looking to complete the works and reopen the highway in early December.

Cllr Cooper said: “It’s great news that we’re finally going to see Dendron Road reopened in the next few weeks, after being closed for over a year.

"This is an important connection between our villages and forms part of the National Cycle Route 700.

"Local residents have contacted me feeling frustrated at what they saw as the slow progress with these repairs, but together, we’ve lobbied the council to get this work done, and now the end is in sight."

In March this year, the culvert collapsed, prompting emergency work ahead of forecast heavy rainfall.

During these emergency works, a potential water main was exposed, requiring investigations from United Utilities before any further repairs could take place.

A new culvert was subsequently designed to avoid interfering with the live water main, and the road works are now nearing completion.

The issue was raised to MP Simon Fell during his Summer Surgery Tour.

He said: “This proves the benefit of elected members such as Ben and I, getting out into all corners of our patch, and listening to local people about the challenges they face in their day to day lives.

“Many local people raised this road closure with me, and it’s caused great disruption and frustration.

"Through working together with Cllr Cooper we’ve been able to move things along and get the road in Dendron scheduled to open once again, so that local motorists won’t be disrupted by this for much longer.”