An MP is pushing for urgent action to reopen an erosion-hit road a month after it was shut amid safety fears.

The B5300 was closed at Dubmill Point between Maryport and Silloth on February 20 after an inspection showed that a strip of coastline nearly two metres wide had washed away in just two months.

But people living along the route are still waiting for work to begin to install rock armour on the beach and reinstate the bank, which will enable highways bosses to reopen the 1.2km stretch of carriageway.

The Cumbria County Council has been delayed by the need to obtain licence after licence from government bodies, with businesses and residents being hit hard by every day of the closure.

Now Workington Labour MP Sue Hayman has said she will write to Natural England, which needs to provide the third required permit for the work, calling for the necessary bureaucracy to be overcome as quickly as possible.

News and Star: Sue Hayman MPSue Hayman MP

She said: "I thought we'd resolved the issue by getting the Marine Management Organisation sorted.

"It seems incredibly over complex and when we have got an issue of coastal erosion and we have got roads that are clearly not protected as they should be it really does seem ridiculous that we can't just crack on and it takes this length of time.

"I will write to the chief executive of Natural England and copy in the county council.

"It's incredibly important. Constituents who live in that area have been telling us about their very deep concerns for more than three years now.

"We really do need to make sure that their homes are protected, their businesses are protected and that there a road that's usable because when that road closes for a period of time it has a serious impact on local businesses as well as children going to school and people getting to doctors appointments."

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Mrs Hayman previously intervened to speed up the process to reopen the road immediately after its closure.

At that point, the council was awaiting permission from the Marine Management Organisation for a licence to install the rock armour, which was already planned.

She called on DEFRA minister Thérèse Coffey to intervene, and soon afterwards the licence was granted.

The council then said a licence was needed from Natural England because of natterjack toads nearby.

This week a spokesman said it had received one permit from Natural England but still required a European Protected Species licence from the same body because of the toads.

Rock has been stockpiled at the site ready for work to begin as soon as all the required consents are in place.