DEARNE Valley Bypass has been temporarily re-opened with traffic lights in place following work which began in July - but the council admitted that it will be closed again in the coming months.

In July, a section of the A635 Dearne Valley Parkway near Goldthorpe was closed after a car was deliberately set on fire in an underpass.

This criminal act resulted in significant structural damage to the underpass’ roof - but further continued vandalism since this incident has hampered efforts to reopen the section of road which is well-used by commuters and HGVs.

Earlier this week, the bypass was temporarily re-opened with traffic lights in place but there’s still plenty of work to be done - and vandals are still striking in the area.

A council spokesperson said: “Our contractor has now cut the subway roof slab in half to separate the damaged section which allows traffic to run on one lane of the bypass.

“Traffic management will be in place to allow two-way operation with traffic signals over the damaged part of the subway roof.

“Despite our ongoing efforts to reopen the bypass and repair the subway roof as quickly as possible, we have continued to see significant vandalism in the area.

“Vandalism is not tolerated in our borough, and this vandalism is only delaying our work even further.

“We’d like to thank residents and businesses for their cooperation and understanding.”