It has connected two sides of Noak Hill Road for 40 years but last week the bridge came down.

Len Rason, 77, took these photographs of the removal of the pedestrian bridge in Harold Hill – which brought back a lot of memories for him.

He said: “I remember when the bridge went up in 1970.

“It connected the Bedfords Park School and the Whitworth Centre site, the Harold Hill Grammar School.

“My daughters went to the schools and used to use it. I remember when they told me it was going to be built.”

The local history enthusiast added that he watched the Welsh demolition team taking the aging bridge down in just a matter of hours on the morning of Thursday last week.

The former school sites are currently being developed for new housing.

Cllr Barry Tebbutt, Havering Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetcare, said: “The surfacing on the bridge was in a poor state and not easy for everyone to use, and the developers building the new housing estate in the area have given us the opportunity to replace the bridge with a new toucan crossing, subject to planning permission.

“This will provide a safe and easy way for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road.”

Click on the photo gallery to the right to see Len’s pictures of the work taking place.