A MAN who has been chairing negotiations over the proposed demolition of Steventon's railway bridge has stepped down after sharing his view it should be knocked down.

Stewart Lilly had been overseeing meetings between those opposed to the scheme, including Steventon Parish Council, and Network Rail since shortly after the official application was submitted by the rail company in April last year.

Appointed to be an independent mediator, Mr Lilly, a county councillor for the area from 2009 until last May, said he had been ‘disappointed’ that relations had broken down in the past five months.

However he also said that, while he sympathised with businesses worried about a 10-month closure of a main route into Steventon while the Brunel bridge was replaced with a concrete one, he felt stopping the demolition would only delay the inevitable.

He said: “My fear is the bridge is 181 years old; it isn’t built for the usage it has now. If, say, a few bricks fell on to the track, there could be an accident. It has been repaired before, I think around 20 years ago, but that won’t hold forever."

He concluded that it would be 'total folly' for Vale of White Horse District Council to refuse the application.

Following the comments, Chris Wilding, chairman of Steventon Parish Council, responded: "As an ex-Oxfordshire County Councillor he is still acting as though he still was one.

“Indeed Oxfordshire County Council would like to knock the bridge down so that they get a new one paid for by Network Rail and have no maintenance costs for several years.”

Mr Lilly said yesterday he had resigned as chairman 'because it was the only honourable thing to do'. He also stressed that the demolition decision, due to be made next month, was 'totally up to' the Vale's planning committee.