FEARS that £23,500 worth of temporary repairs to the crumbling weir at Avoncliff have failed appear to be unfounded.

Bradford on Avon Town Council said that medium term repairs designed to last 5-10 years are still holding up.

There were reports over the Easter weekend that bags intended to shore up the weir had split, with their contents polluting the River Avon.

The council fears that if the weir does collapse, water levels under the town bridge in Bradford on Avon might drop by up to one metre and have a devastating impact on local wildlife and tourism.

In a post on local social media, Levi George accused the council of creating a mess, saying: “They have created a danger to wildlife with plastic netting catching debris.

“On closer inspection there are dead fish and what looked like a dead swan caught up in the nets. Such a shame and not good for the environment.”

A town council spokeswoman said: “Following reports on social media, visual inspections were made over the Easter weekend and this morning, and indicate that the repairs to the weir are holding up as planned.

“From time to time, the covering material can come loose, particularly during the winter months when the river is fast flowing or large debris flows downstream, but there appears to be no risk to the structural integrity of the weir.

“As soon as it is safe to do so, volunteers will look to re-secure the covering material, as part of the expected ongoing maintenance.

“This is a community project and the town council are hugely grateful to all of the volunteer efforts to preserve this important feature until a long-term solution can be found.”

The temporary repairs were made last year by volunteers and Serve On, a charity which undertook the in-water element.

They were paid for by public donations to a community project, with financial support coming from Bradford on Avon Town Council and other organisations.

It is believed the weir was originally built more than 1,000 years ago but it now has a huge hole on the south side which is causing concern. The weir is privately owned by people who own property on the north and south banks of the river.

The repairs were paid for by a community project spearheaded by Oliver Norton which gained more than £9,700 in public donations, plus a £10,000 donation from the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust and a £1,000 donation from the Canoe Trust.

In addition, Bradford on Avon Town Council earmarked £3,000 as a project contingency to ensure the repairs were made.

The council acted as the lead organisation for the project and commissioned Mark Lovell Design Engineers in Devizes to survey and draw up the scheme for the repairs.

Last year, Bradford on Avon’s mayor, Cllr Simon McNeill-Ritchie, said: “It’s crucial that this repair takes place as soon as possible, given that a failure to do so would probably reduce the town’s iconic river to a shallow stream in an oversized ditch.

“The impact on tourism, business and leisure activities would be profound and likely irreversible.”