Carlisle residents are running out of time to have their say on the reopening of a historic bridge in the city.

Northumbria University students launched a survey last month to boost the public awareness of the plans to reopen the Waverley Viaduct and offer their support to The Carlisle Waverley Viaduct Trust.

The Trust have dedicated more than a decade campaigning for the reopening and have always had the same mission - to have the Viaduct as a footpath and eventually a cycle path.

The campaign to open the Viaduct, which links the Cumberland Infirmary to Etterby and Stainton across the River Eden, received a welcome boost last year when five graduates offered their support to the cause.

The international students have all graduated with Masters of Science degrees and travelled from India to study at the northeast university. The student leading the study, Vignesh Koreddiwar said: "We want to help attract people to the area and hope to make a video and do a lot of work on social media. We plan on reaching out to charities and others who have interests in the history."

The volunteers have high hopes for the area and really want to introduce some new and younger people into the team to help secure its future.

Chairperson for the Trust, Julie Bowman added: "We hope the students will be able to help us find the money to fund the work we need to do. They will be able to offer a different prospective.

"The public are well aware of the Viaduct’s situation, many likened it to the ongoing disappearance of many of the city’s historical assets.

"Most feel and say that the council are more interested in building more housing estates.

"The overwhelming support to reopen the Viaduct is out there. What’s not to like about the campaign to give her back to the people?"

The team are hoping to be able to secure more than £250,000 in funding to help get the viaduct open. The survey is still available to access through the Waverley Viaduct Facebook page and will be online until Monday (10th).