A popular Broads nature reserve remains closed over a week after storms shattered a telephone pole and parts of the boardwalk.

Eastern Daily Press: The damage to the Openreach telephone pole is so severe that it has to be completely replaced - with a road closure on How Hill Road expected next week. Photo: OpenreachThe damage to the Openreach telephone pole is so severe that it has to be completely replaced - with a road closure on How Hill Road expected next week. Photo: Openreach (Image: Archant)

How Hill Nature Reserve at Ludham, near Great Yarmouth, was subjected to “severe damage” on September 30 when rain and gale force winds struck the county.More than a week later, the reserve is still shut off, with Broads Authority staff saying they “can’t put a fixed date” on when it would open again.

In a statement, the authority said: “There is multiple tree damage at the reserve. One large tree had fallen across How Hill Road, and there was other general damage in the reserve.

“The boardwalk tree damage at How Hill is currently being repaired by our operations and maintenance team, but we cannot confirm when this will be finished.”

From September 30 until October 8, How Hill Road was blocked by a felled tree which had come down last week.

The reason for such a long delay in getting it cleared was because the tree had pulled down metres of overhead cable and split a nearby telephone pole into three pieces.

A spokesperson for Openreach - a subsidiary of BT - said: “How Hill Road is now open and cars are travelling up and down it.

“As of Thursday, the cables are no longer tangled up with the tree, allowing the council to remove it.

“We’re really sorry for the disruption here - it was caused by a tree damaging one of our poles and ripping apart metres of overhead cable.

Eastern Daily Press: A road closure will be necessary on How Hill Road next week after storm damage shattered an Openreach pole and ripped out metres of overhead cables. Photo: GoogleA road closure will be necessary on How Hill Road next week after storm damage shattered an Openreach pole and ripped out metres of overhead cables. Photo: Google (Image: Archant)

“The damage is so severe that the pole has split into three pieces, and needs completely replacing.

“After visiting yesterday morning, our engineers have established they need to close the road to enable the repair to take place safely.

“We’re seeking permission to do this and we expect the work to take place next week.

“The road will be closed for less than a day, and we’ll confirm when the work will take place as soon as possible, but the road closure will enable us to work quickly and safely and get this sorted.”

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