PARISIANS may live in the city of love, but besotted Leamington couples are giving them a run for their money.
Loved-up residents have started attaching padlocks signed with their initials to Mill Bridge in Jephson Gardens, much like the French used to do on the capital’s Pont des Arts bridge β commonly referred to as ‘Love Lock Bridge’.
Couples have been attaching a padlock to the Grade II listed bridge, which crosses the River Leam, and then throwing the key into the water to signify undying love.
And unlike the French authorities who have now removed the locks, Warwick District Council – which maintains the bridge β say they can stay.
In Paris the bridge over the Seine started to collapse under the weight of some 700,000 padlocks, with one railing falling onto the bridge’s footpath.
The locks were removed and the railings boarded up in a bid to deter lovestruck couples, who took to graffitiing the boards as an act of defiance.
But as Mill Bridge is currently peppered with just a few locks, it could take some time before council chiefs find themselves with a similar headache.
A district council spokeswoman told the Observer: βThe council’s bridge maintenance team is aware that a number of locks have been attached to the footbridge in Jephson Gardens. This is currently causing no damage to the bridge and no immediate action is planned but we will be monitoring the issues in case it becomes a problem.β
