A bridge in Paris was evacuated yesterday after a section of the railing collapsed under the weight of thousands of ‘love-locks’.
A tradition of couples visiting the city of romance, love-locks have been placed on the Pont des Arts bridge since 2008, with lovers throwing the keys into the River Seine to declare their love for one another.
Nobody was hurt by the ‘love lock’ incident and the bridge reopened today with the 2.4 metre stretch temporarily covered by wooden panels.
Paris authorities, who inspect and replace panels twisted or made unsafe by the weight of the locks, have faced calls to clamp down on the practice on aesthetic grounds.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, last month invited citizens to “open a debate around the phenomenon of ‘love locks’ with a view to finding alternatives”.
Image via ITV News
