Landmark bridge closes for removal of love locks

A landmark bridge in the Peak District has closed so thousands of love locks can be removed.

Derbyshire County Council will be removing the locks from Bakewell's Weir Bridge so it can do maintenance work to the structure.

It had intended to melt the locks down but agreed to give them to a campaign group following a public outcry.

The locks will eventually be moved to a nearby stately home, where people will be able to see them displayed and remember their loved ones.

Mike Hall, who put a lock on the bridge with his late wife in 2014, was there to see the locks on the bridge one final time on Monday.

He felt reassured the work was being handled "very professionally and respectfully", based on what he had seen.

Mr Hall, who lives in Suffolk, will be back in Bakewell again when the locks are taken off and given to the campaign group.

The council has not said when this will happen, but the bridge is due to be closed for three weeks.

He will then help relocate them to Thornbridge Hall.

Mr Hall said he felt "OK" about them being taken off the bridge.

"The memories for me are in my heart and I see this bridge as many things," he said.

"There's a passing of us as a couple going across, and now it's only me and the bridge because my wife has passed. She has passed over the other side, her bridge."

Love locks first started appearing on Weir Bridge in 2012, and the campaign group calculated 40,000 had been placed in total.

The county council previously said it needed to remove them to allow for maintenance and repair work to the bridge.

The design of the bridge will then be altered so more locks cannot be attached in future.

The council said this was necessary for public safety, as there had been reports of people injuring themselves on the locks.

The council said it had tried to find somewhere to relocate the locks but had been unable to.

However, the Save the Love Locks campaign contacted the owners of Thornbridge Hall and arranged for the locks to be moved there.

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