A Torbay Council Spokesperson said: “It is with great disappointment and regret that we have to announce that we will not be able to open Oldway to the public on the weekend of 6 and 7 April, as we had hoped.

“In anticipation of a high volume of visitors, we undertook a thorough assessment specifically related to a number of public events, which were planned to be staged this summer.

“As a result of the assessment, a number of defects have been identified which could put the public at risk. These defects will need to be rectified before Oldway can be reopened to the public.  Work, from design to completion is likely to take at least four months. Our main objective is to restore Oldway and bring it back into public use, and consideration is now being given to the best use of limited resources. From this, it may be decided that the scale of funding required to deliver short term public access is better diverted to the longer term aim of bringing Oldway back into public use.

“Taking all of this into consideration, the difficult decision has had to be made to postpone all the internal events, until further notice. This decision has not been made lightly and was taken in consultation with local stakeholders with public safety being paramount.

“Please be assured that work continues on forming a new Trust to restore Oldway and Torbay Council will continue to work with the appointed consultants who are currently specifying and costing the work ready to make a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  We will provide regular updates as we move along this process.”