Villagers have pledged to save a 100-year-old footbridge following a shock decision to have it demolished.
Residents of Newburgh were dismayed after Aberdeenshire Council’s Formartine area committee decided to demolish the historic north bridge across the Foveran burn.
The structure was found to be cracked and badly corroded during a local authority inspection in January and was immediately closed.
Council officers estimated the cost of replacing the crumbling crossing to be about £500,000.
However, councillors agreed to progress with the cheapest option – the removal of the bridge at a cost of £30,000.
The move was met with anger in the village and at a meeting this week at Newburgh Public Hall, locals vowed to replace the structure in any way they can.
More than 40 people attended the talks, organised by Foveran community council, and councillors Rob Merson and Richard Thomson took questions from the floor.
Glen Douglas, community council secretary, said the group was exploring alternatives “with a view to replacing the bridge”.
He added: “We are investigating different options.
“There has been a bridge there for a long, long time. The feeling in the meeting was that the villagers want the bridge replaced.
“The council are not going to replace it and villagers are going to come up with their own scheme.”
He added that Aberdeenshire Council had offered to work with locals if they can come up with a viable suggestion for a replacement.
The bridge was donated to Newburgh by one of its most famous sons, Captain Thomas Fiddes Spalding, in 1902, and is one of three crossings over the Foveran burn.
Ellon and district councillor, Mr Merson, said: “I was very pleased to attend the meeting and to hear of the action which the community was taking to investigate the possibilities for the future of the bridge.
“There is no council budget for the replacement. Basically the officers have inspected it and established it is beyond economic repair.
“It has been designated for demolition on health and safety grounds because obviously if it is left in its current state an accident or injury could arise.”