HC Deb 07 March 2002 vol 381 cc558-9W
Mr. Edwards

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement about the reasons for the closure of the Severn Bridge on(a) 12 February and (b) 27 February; and what the recorded wind speeds were on each occasion; [39660]

(2) if he will list the dates on which the Severn Bridge has been closed in the past four weeks; and the reasons for the closure in each case. [39961]

Mr. Jamieson

I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 7 March 2002: I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about recent closures of the Severn Bridge. In the last 4 weeks, the Severn Bridge was closed on the following dates:

Closed Re-opened Reason for closure
February 1 (10.00 hrs) February 2 (13.45 hrs) High winds
February 4 (12.00 hrs) February 6 (01.00 hrs) High winds
February 11 (15.30 hrs) February 12 (10.45 hrs) High winds
February 19 (20.00 hrs) February 20 (19.30 hrs) High winds
February 26 (01.00 hrs) February 27 (12.15 hrs) High winds

Severn Bridge is closed by the Police when they are concerned about high winds affecting vehicles. You will see that the closures on 12 and 27 February had been imposed, in each case, the day before because of high wind speeds. The maximum recorded wind speed on 12 February was 41 knots and, on 27 February, 49 knots.