The cost of restoring the Tyne Bridge to its former glory has spiralled “significantly” because of the inflation crisis, a new report reveals.
It was announced earlier this month that the North East icon is in an even worse state of disrepair than council bosses had feared and that its overdue renovation could take up to four years, twice as long as originally planned. The rusted crossing’s dilapidated condition and the UK’s huge inflation rate, recently reported at a 41-year high of 11.1%, mean that cash-strapped Tyneside authorities now face a substantially bigger bill to complete the refurbishment.
A funding package of £41.4m, mostly funded by the Government, to repair both the Tyne Bridge and the Central Motorway was agreed this summer after years of desperate pleas. But the economic crisis means that some of the motorway works could now be delayed or even abandoned in order to focus on the increasingly expensive bridge restoration.
