Hundreds of ‘love-locks’ are to be removed from Chester’s Queens Park Suspension Bridge, following fears they could put the public in danger.
Cheshire West and Chester Council will remove the locks next month after the Pont des Arts in Paris had to be evacuated when pieces of the parapet crumbled away under the weight of metal love tokens.
The council said there are over 330 locks on the Chester Bridge, which are bringing it close to its theoretical capacity to resist the effects of wind loading.
Cllr Lynn Riley, the council’s executive member for localities: ‘We have taken the logical decision to act before there is any imminent danger to the public.
‘At the same time we are doing the best that circumstances will allow, to respect the sensitivities of those who attached the locks and may want to have them back as a keepsake.’
Owners that still have their keys have three weeks to reclaim the locks, with the rest being stored by the council until the end of the year.
