I AM baffled by the statement from your correspondent from Corbridge that the C253 road is used by very few vehicles and that no one is going to be noticeably inconvenienced by keeping it closed (Courant Letters, April 29).

I live in Bywell, my child attends Ovingham Middle School and my childminder lives in Ovingham. Before the closure, I used this road a minimum of four times a day and regularly passed several cars on each journey travelling in the opposite direction, and many more since the closure of Ovingham Bridge nearly two years ago.

I know of other parents who used this route, as did taxis taking children to Ovingham First and Middle Schools, part of the home to school transport which the local authority has to provide if requested due to the distance from school and absence of public transport.

The road was also used by the school bus from Stocksfield to Ovingham Middle School.

I would strongly dispute the statement that there are plenty of better alternatives. There is small potholed single carriageway track which runs through Ovington which is also regularly closed, or the option of turning west on to the A69, turning around at the roundabout proceeding east on the A69 and either crossing the carriageway into Ovington or continuing to the next turn off and driving back through Ovingham to the school.

Apart from the financial cost to both private drivers and the local authority due to the additional fuel required for the many extra miles driven each day, there is also the environmental cost of those additional bus and car miles.

There are many places to walk dogs and cycle by the riverside away from roads, such as in Corbridge and on the south side of the river from Ovingham. This road needs to be repaired and reopened as soon as possible.

J PROCTOR,

Bywell