A LEVEL crossing in Whittington has reopened after upgrades were successfully completed.

The A495 level crossing reopened on Sunday after a nine-day closure which saw Network Rail engineers fully replace a worn crossing surface with a harder-wearing rubber material.

The rail engineering company's programme manager for Wales and Borders, Sean Wootton, has now thanked the community and motorists for their patience while work was carried out to install the 'state-of-the-art' surface.

"We would like to thank the local community and motorists for their patience while we carried out this upgrade to Whittington level crossing," he added.

"This essential work has improved the resilience and reliability of the level crossing and has increased its lifespan for years to come.

"We worked closely with our partners to minimise disruption and have successfully installed this state-of-the-art crossing surface."

And Colin Lea, customer experience director for Transport for Wales, thanked Network Rail for investing money into keeping the crossing 'safe and reliable'.

"Keeping level crossings safe and reliable is incredibly important in the running of the railway so it’s great news that we’re seeing this investment in Whittington by Network Rail," he said.

"We worked closely with our partners in Network Rail to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum and would like to thank passengers who travelled on our bus replacement service between Wrexham and Shrewsbury for their patience and understanding."

The road was closed to motorists during the resurfacing work, but remained open to pedestrians apart from at weekends.