LAKES parish coun-cillors heard that the estimated cost of the Skelwith footbridge that will take walkers and cyclists off the busy Ambleside to Coniston road is almost £100,000, including set-up costs.

Coun Edna Garlick, who had attended a meeting of interested parties to discuss the project, said there would be £50,000 of additional work on the surrounding land.

Lake District National Park Authority ranger Steve Gaskell said he had counted 230 pedestrians, or two-a-minute, walking across Skelwith Bridge during a two-hour survey on Easter Sunday.

Once completed, the steel-framed, stone-faced bridge would link in with the Ambleside-Coniston cycleway. No source of funding had been found but the North West Development Agency and the Countryside Agency were being approached.