A Victorian river crossing will remain closed for more than a year while work to replace it is under way. 

Norfolk County Council has been granted permission by City Hall to tear down the bridge at New Mills Yard in Norwich. 

It has already been shut for nearly six months due to safety concerns. 

Works are not expected to be completed until December 2025, meaning locals will have to continue finding alternative routes for some time. 

The bridge, which connects Westwick Street to Riverside Walk, was first constructed in 1898 and has deteriorated in recent years. It will now be removed and replaced as part of a £500,000 project.

New Mills Yard is a former watermill complex that forms the head of navigation, the furthest point upstream that Broads boats can reach on the Wensum.

Its Grade II-listed pumping station was built in 1897 as part of engineering works for the new Norwich sewage system.

Flashback to March 1971, when the pumping station was still in use. March 1971 when the pumping station was still in use (Image: Archant) It has been shut since 1972 following the construction of new sewage works at Whitlingham.

The pumping station stands on the site of a medieval watermill and is believed to have first been used for water supply as early as the 16th century.

READ MORE: Spending on City Hall's temporary staff TRIPLES in four years

Plans to restore it to working order were withdrawn five years ago and it remains to be seen whether it will be revived, as it will not be altered in any way under these proposals. 

The bridge at New Mills Yard has only been accessible to pedestrians and cyclists since 2005 and will remain shut to vehicles once it reopens.

However many people and businesses use the bridge to cross the Wensum and two diversion routes have been in place via Barn Road and Riverside Walk since it closed in April. 

A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said work is "unlikely" to finish until December 2025.