A SPACE-AGE bridge in the Ribble Valley is a step closer to being built.

Lancashire County Council has begun buying up land around the confluence of the River Ribble and River Calder so it can start work on the £500,000 bridge, described as looking like something out of Star Wars.

The three-legged bridge will enable people to walk from one side of the Ribble to the far side of the Calder.

One leg of the construction will drop on to the land caused by the separation of the Calder and the Ribble at Little Mytton.

It incorporates stainless steel, glass reinforced plastic and concrete, and will be around 100 metres long

It will mean people can cross the rivers there for the first time since 1950, when the old Hacking Ferry ceased carrying people and animals across the water.

It should save ramblers a two-and-a-half mile walk to the next bridge, further down the path.

And it will also mean that, for the first time since it was opened in 1985, people will be able to walk the full length of the Ribble Way without being diverted

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "The cabinet member for highways and transport has given permission for the county council to begin compulsory purchase action to acquire the land needed for the bridge to be built.

"Those compulsory purchase orders are now in place."

Coun Nora Ward, the cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "This is an exciting project which will restore an old right of way.

"It should generate a lot of interest but we are continuing to deal with local issues sensitively."

Ramblers have given their full backing to the bridge because it means they will be able to walk the Ribble Way without diversion. But local fishermen have expressed concern that the bridge work would disturb local salmon stocks.

When the county's development control committee gave the project permission last year, they received other complaints that it would attract too many tourists and distract attention from nearby historic Hacking Hall.