A stretch of the canal in Bingley is to be closed on Monday as part of the construction work on the £4.79 million Bingley bypass.

About 60 metres of the Leeds to Liverpool Canal will be closed under Ferncliffe Road until March 2002 to prepare for the new bridge which will span the canal and relief road.

The canal will be closed while the work takes place and the fish will be taken out and put in sections of the canal which are not being drained.

Construction workers for AMEC, the company building the road, will begin by installing two clay bunds or dams, at each end of the stretch before the water is drained the following week.

A lining will be laid on the canal bed as part of the foundation work for the new bridge.

Project manager Peter Scally, of the Highways Agency, said: "Bingley is a technically challenging route as we have to work around existing structures like the canal.

"We have timed the work to avoid closing the canal during the main tourist season."

Work on the five-kilometre dual-lane bypass began in July and is expected to be completed by autumn 2003.

The road will run from Crossflatts to the Bankfield Hotel and workers have begun at each end, removing earth to pave the way for the route.

It is a design and build scheme, which means that each stage is designed as the workers go along to comply with the conditions encountered along the way.

Mr Scally added: "The canal is being drained to help us prepare for the new and enlarged Ferncliffe Road bridge which will pass over the canal and the relief road."

The road is intended to remove 60 per cent of the traffic from Bingley centre. The relief road, which is due to be completed next autumn, was in the pipeline for around 30 years. Residents campaigned for it, to relieve the town of congested traffic.

Campaigning groups included the Better Bingley Campaign and the Bingley Civic Trust.