PM admits wait for Bridge cash was 'too long'

FINAL £6M FOR STRUCTURE'S RESTORATION

- By DANIEL HOLLAND Local Democracy Reporter [e-mail]

SIR Keir Starmer has welcomed a long-awaited commitment to ensure the restoration of the Tyne Bridge is fully funded, after the North East was left waiting "too long".

The Chronicle revealed on Thursday that the final £6m needed to finish major repairs on the famous bridge will be drawn from a £1.85bn pot that the Government is handing to the North East for transport infrastructure upgrades.

Local leaders on Tyneside have spent months pleading with ministers to release the cash, which had been promised during Conservative Rishi Sunak’s time in Downing Street but was put under review by Labour last year. Amid fears that there could be a Whitehall U-turn on the pledge, there were warnings that such a move would be a “spectacular own goal” and mean the iconic crossing would not be repaired to the standard it deserves.

The Prime Minister himself had previously refused to offer assurances over the funding, telling the LDRS in January that “difficult decisions” were being taken after his administration inherited an alleged £2.9bn worth of unfunded transport pledges.