AFTER nearly four years a popular Exmoor bridleway has been restored following a major landslip in the floods of December 2012.

However elsewhere in the park a well-traversed bridge at East Lyn has been closed after being deemed unsafe.

A 40 metre section of path on the western bank of the River Barle at Worth Wood near Withypool collapsed in a landslip following the flood on Christmas Eve 2012.

This made the route impassable and it has been closed ever since.

However in the past few weeks Exmoor National Park have been working to create a new route further up the slope which is now in use.

Dan Barnett, National Park access and recreation manager said: “It’s taken a while to find the best way of tackling this issue, but the new route provides a long term sustainable solution for the public bridleway and paves the way for further access enhancements along this popular and beautiful valley."

But where one problem has been solved another has cropped up elsewhere in the park, as following a recent inspection Woodside Bridge near Lynmouth has been closed after being deemed unsafe.

In the meantime, members of the public are advised to use the Tors Road footbridge as an alternative means of crossing the East Lyn.

The 71ft-long bridge was erected in 1993 by the Royal Engineers working with Exmoor National Park and at the time was the largest single span footbridge in the National Park.

Mr Barnett added: “Our main priority in the first instance was to stop people using the bridge and for safety reasons, we now plan to have it removed as soon as practically possible. We will then be looking into the options for replacing it.”