A DIVIDED village is to soon be connected once again, as the Tilford East Bridge is set to re-open in November.

Following an accident in January 2017, which saw the driver of a Honda CR-V 4x4 crash through the bridge barrier, temporary measures were taken to ensure the bridge remained open for villagers.

However after investigations, it was decided that the bridge needed extensive repairs, taking place intermittently from July 2018, and it has been closed since September 23 last year.

But with the bridge work now nearing completion – despite a series of postponements – a spokesperson for Surrey County Council confirmed a provisional date has been set by Surrey Highways for the bridge to open on November 9.

It will come as good news to the community, which has been split in half for the duration of the work.

The Barley Mow pub manager, Debbie Glover, spoke of the upcoming opening, commenting: “We are very happy to hear that the East Bridge is due to open – it has been such a long time closed.

“The impact on our business has been catastrophic. Our customers will once again be able to travel from one side to the other unhindered and through traffic from Farnham, for instance, can enjoy lunch at the pub maybe, and then carry on to their destination.

“And on a personal note, I can visit my sister, who lives a four-minute drive the other side of the bridge, in four minutes rather than 15!”

Para Prabhakaran, owner of the Tilford Village Shop, added: “We are part of the businesses in Tilford, and we try our best to run this shop. Since it was closed, we have made huge losses.

“And with Covid, we were struggling to get stock, staff no longer being able to come to work – everyone was scared about Covid.”

Para and his wife Mercy have owned the village shop for almost 16 months, having to close the shop in April to cope with the pressures of Covid-19, before opening on June 1.

“We have managed so far which is good,” he said, with Para having taken up a part-time job to cover the losses from Covid-19 and bridge repairs.

The family also sought advice from a local lawyer in a bid to receive help, but were told there was “no way to claim any compensation”.

Para, who is looking forward to the bridge finally re-opening, added: “We have great support from the local community, they have always been very supportive.

“Even our landlords had tried to help us by any means, which I am grateful for.”

Concerns had been raised by resident Charles Wicks over the width of the new bridge – which he said a worker measured at 8ft 4in – with some recovery and emergency vehicles measuring at an inch wider.

However, a spokesperson for Surrey Highways confirmed the width of the bridge had not been changed at any point, measuring at “about 8.6 feet”.

They confirmed the weight limit of 7.5 tonnes had also not changed.