Traders call for restrictions on bridge use following breakdown

They are also calling for a change in policy by Scarborough Council to restrict the number of times the crossing is opened and closed each day to prevent excessive wear and tear.

Scarborough Councillor Dorothy Clegg, who also runs the Lucky Ducks shop on the East side of Whitby, which was effectively cut off during the bridge fiasco, said years ago vessels were only granted access every two hours.

But she and other traders claim that the Swing Bridge is effectively being opened on demand at the drop of a hat every time a yachtsman requires passage up or down the River Esk.

Coun Clegg said: "On the day it broke down it was being opened every 15 minutes – virtually on request.

"We have built a 7m marina up river of a 100-year-old bridge. If we want both to work we have to take both into account.

"It used to only open every two hours once enough river traffic had gathered. Now it is being opened way too frequently."

She added the breakdown could not have happened at a worse time – not only at the start of the main holiday season but when Whitby was trying to promote itself as a supply port to the offshore wind industry.

A VIP from the industry was actually booked in for a river trip when the bridge was out of action.

Trader Justin Coope, who runs two chocolate shops on the East side, said: "At the moment the bridge can be opened on demand by the yachting people.

"I have also asked for an immediate ban on HGV traffic until the end of October because another break-down would be financially catastrophic and we could all go under. We have to stand up and fight."

When the bridge opened on Friday Mr Coope asked the driver of a large bus to turn around, warning him that the bridge was still being tested.

But the driver went across the bridge while the shopkeeper was trying to find the owner of a parked car that was preventing the vehicle making a U-turn.

"Within 20 minutes of the bridge opening I counted three HGVs and two large buses which should have already ceased their run through the town," he said.

Ian Bradley, manager of The Dolphin pub near the bridge, said he had lost 25,000 because of visitors staying away .

He said: "Why fix the bridge then immediately allow the heavy traffic that caused the damage in the first place across it before they have even finished testing it?

"Of course, tourism will recover. But it has been tainted."

He added that eyebrows had also been raised by the length of time taken to fix the bridge, given that when it broke down for five weeks in 1955 an Army team from Catterick constructed a pontoon bridge in just one day.

Coun Clegg also argued some traffic should not be cutting through the town in the first place but using the high level bridge which connects the town via the main road network.

A Scarborough Council spokesman said they would look into the matter but no one was available to comment at this stage.