The new railway bridge in Chippenham won't be completed until the autumn, several months later than originally planned.

The Victorian footbridge over Chippenham train station was demolished earlier this year to make way for a replacement which included disabled access on the Cocklebury Road side.

The campaigns for people with disabilities and parents with pushchairs to have easier access to the station platforms has been ongoing for two decades.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “In installing the new bridge and lifts at Chippenham station, our aim was to carry out the work with as little disruption to passengers as possible. This has meant that on occasion we have temporarily paused our work programme to ensure the station remains open for business.

“In addition, like many railway projects we are making improvements to dated infrastructure which can result in unexpected challenges on site. In this case we discovered a number of unidentified utility cables that needed to be identified and if necessary, diverted, before work could progress.

“We apologise for the delay and hope the new bridge and lifts will be completed in the autumn, enabling all users of Chippenham station to benefit from better accessibility.”

The £2.98m scheme is being funded in part by the Department for Transport’s Access for All scheme.

Work on the electrification of the line between Chippenham and Bath Spa, which is currently closed, is due to finish on August 31.