THE car park at Yorkshire Water's Thruscross Reservoir is due to close temporarily for three weeks from Monday (January 16) for maintenance work, including the replacement of picnic benches. It will remain open at weekends. 

The work however will not include the siting of payment machines, following the utility company successfully applying for their installation last year ahead of charging people to park in the car park. A spokesperson said payment at the car park, along with at Swinsty Reservoir, also off the A59 between Skipton and Harrogate, would start later this year, following necessary advertising of the scheme.

A spokesperson said: "The closure is to allow maintenance and improvement works to take place. This will include replacing wooden posts around the car park, replacing the picnic benches and relandscaping the picnic area to remove the steps to improve accessibility. Closures will ensure the work can be completed safely, as we will have plant machinery moving around the car park."

"We are hoping to have it done quicker than the three week closure."

Meanwhile, Thruscross is now about 85 per cent full along with others across the region following heavy rain fall.

For several weeks last year, remains of the old West End village, including buildings, walls and tree stumps, were exposed after reservoir levels dropped below half-full, prompting Yorkshire Water to bring in a hosepipe ban, that ran from August 26 until December 6.