A ROAD has reopened early after major work took place to repair a collapsed culvert.

The culvert, which runs four metres below the surface of Thornton Road in Denholme and drains water from nearby Soil Hill collapsed in July this year and caused a four-metre-deep sinkhole to open up in the road.

Bradford Council has carried out repair work and in an update today, the local authority said it can reopen the road ahead of schedule.

A spokesperson said: "Thornton Road (B6145) between its junction with the A644 (Brighouse and Denholme Road) and its junction with the A629 Halifax Road was closed on September 16 and was scheduled to be closed for around two months.

"Brighouse Road, which had to be opened up to two-way traffic to accommodate part of the diversion has now returned to its previous one-way status.

"The temporary lights, which were in place to manage the flow of traffic through the diversion at the junction of Brighouse Road and the A629 Halifax Road, have now been removed.

"The remainder of work at the site can now be carried out using two-way temporary traffic lights on Thornton Road."

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration, planning and Transport said: “Because of how deep the culvert which had collapsed is below the road’s surface, it involved major work to repair it.

“I’d like to thank the crews for their hard work in getting it done ahead of schedule, meaning the road can be reopened to traffic. There is still work to do to complete the repair, but being able to reopen the road will help to minimise the disruption caused to drivers and residents.”

Money for this repair has come from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement fund from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.