Missing £6m Tyne Bridge restoration money is secured

THE final £6m needed to complete the restoration of the Tyne Bridge has been secured.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

Money to finish the famous bridge’s refurbishment in time to celebrate its centenary in October 2028 will be drawn from a £1.85bn commitment made by Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday, The Chronicle can reveal.

Ministers have come under mounting pressure for months over a missing tranche of funding that had been promised for the Tyne Bridge maintenance project, a four-year scheme which began in April 2024.

While the Department for Transport (DfT) provided an initial £35.2m towards the repair works, a further pledge was also made by former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak to stump up another £6.2m that would cover the full costs of upgrading the Grade II*-listed crossing and the Central Motorway.

That extra cash was placed under review by Labour after last summer's general election and there had been serious worries among Tyneside leaders that it was at risk of being cut.

However, it has now been confirmed that the looming funding gap will be plugged following Ms Reeves’ promise of the “biggest ever investment” in the North's transport infrastructure.

The Chancellor committed to provide £1.85bn to the North East Combined Authority through a City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) allocation covering 2027 to 2032, a chunk of which will be used to extend the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington.