A NEW bridge is to be built over the River Thames sparking fears about a busy road having to be diverted across a celebrated Oxfordshire beauty spot.

New Bridge, pictured, dating from the 12th century, on the A415 Abingdon to Witney road, is being made unusable by the volume of heavy lorries.

Oxfordshire County Council engineers are alarmed at the speed of the historic bridge's deterioration.

They have decided that it cannot be strengthened and that a new bridge must be built across a beautiful stretch of the Thames, five miles west of Oxford.

The bridge has the pubs the Maybush and the Rose Revived at either end, with beer gardens overlooking spectacular riverside scenery.

New Bridge is classified as a Scheduled Ancient Monument but it is now judged as being too narrow to handle the levels of traffic, using the route to avoid the heavily congested A420, A40 and A34.

But villagers in nearby Standlake say the bridge's narrowness acts as a deterrent to heavy goods vehicles and fear a new bridge will result in further heavy traffic for their village.

The county council says it is still deciding on how best to realign the road to bypass the old bridge. The Local Transport Plan proposes construction of the new bridge as early as 2009.

The county council's head of transport, Steve Howell, said: "We are having to monitor the bridge to make sure it is not deteriorating faster than we expect. It is an A-road carrying HGVs and we have no choice but to make sure we have a safe and stable structure across the river there."

He said preliminary work had started to see how best to bypass New Bridge. It is not known whether the road would be diverted to the east or west, but the sensitivity of the site means it is likely to be as close as possible to the current road route.

Standlake parish councillor and the local West Oxfordshire district councillor, Brenda Smith, said the council should instead impose a vehicle weight limit. Ms Smith said: "We have been asking for this for a long time. Money used for a new bridge would be better spent on improving the A40 link with the A34. This is just a short-term solution, a sticking plaster. It is going to ruin the ambience of the bridge and the Rose Revived."

The landlord of the Maybush, Brian Ward, said: "It's a very attractive spot. We overlook where the Windrush runs into the Thames. We are still trying to get information about what is being proposed. It would be likely to affect passing trade."

Standlake Parish Council has appealed to Witney MP David Cameron to intervene.

The council's vice-chairman, Chris Naylor, said: "We are really concerned about the prospect of a new bridge.

"We know what would happen, a massive increase in traffic going through the village. We need some clarification about what exactly they are proposing."

He said the closure of a section of the A415 over several months showed heavy goods vehicles easily managed to find other routes.