SHOPPERS, shopkeepers and market traders are being urged to provide a final boost for a bridge campaign.

A petition calling for a second bridge over the River Weaver between Barnton and Winnington has attracted more than 3,300 names.

That figure is required to trigger a discussion on an additional bridge at Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The deadline for signatures for the Bridge2Barnton petition launched by Barnton Parish Council is September 4, and council chairman Dilys Hooper is looking for as many extra names as possible before that date.

Parish councillors will be out and about in Northwich town centre this Saturday seeking signatures for the petition, and are hoping to add at least 500 to the total.

Those collecting names will be outside the Pound Bakery at the junction of Witton Street and Witton Walk, from 10am, and will be collecting signatures through the town centre during the day.

“I am hoping everyone who passes us will want to stop and sign,” said Cllr Hooper, who hopes to help collect names after taking part in preparations for a thanksgiving service on Sunday at St Helen’s Church in Northwich.

The service is being staged by the Cheshire county branch of the Royal British Legion.

“We will be collecting names in the town centre between 10am and 4pm, and I’m hoping everyone will support us, as the more people who sign the louder our voice will be heard,” said Cllr Hooper.

“The petition has gone really well, and people realise something has to be done. Children can sign as well as adults, which is very important as young people are the future.”

The petition has been signed online at Cheshire West and Chester Council’s website, and on paper at busineses in Barnton, Winnington and neighbouring communities.

The online petition has been signed by 1,348 people, and calls for the Labour group at Cheshire West to find a solution to the problems with the single lane Winnington swing bridge and increasing traffic problems experienced by residents, commuters and businesses in Barnton and surrounding communities by providing proposals by the end of 2016.