Urgent repairs to a Victorian railway viaduct over the River Tame in Greater Manchester have recommenced after three major storms forced Network Rail engineers to stop work.

More than 5,500 tonnes of large boulders are being laid at the foot of the Reddish Vale viaduct near Stockport to stop its bases from being eroded by fast flowing river water.

However work had to stop for several days when the River Tame swelled to unsafe levels after storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.

Now the essential repairs have restarted to protect the 147-year-old structure and keep trains running safely on the Hope Valley line above for decades to come.

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Chris Pye, Network Rail’s North West infrastructure director, said: "While we tried our best to keep working during these three storms, we had to briefly stop work at Reddish Vale for safety reasons.

"The recent weather shows exactly why it’s so important for us to shore up the foundations of this iconic Victorian-built structure and protect it from further erosion. I would like to thank local people and businesses for their patience and understanding while the work takes place."

The anti-erosion work started in January and in the first few weeks further inspections of the Grade II listed structure found more areas which needed protection.

Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: "Improvements like these are essential in delivering our long-term strategy to create a better railway for the North and is a great example of the rail industry working together to improve the network.

"We are sorry for any disruption while the work takes place and our customers can be assured that both Northern and Network Rail will do everything possible to keep them on the move."