Bridge reopens after safety alert

Six cars or 200 people can be carried across the bridge over the River Tees

Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge is to reopen after being forced to close because of hundreds of worn bolts.

The landmark bridge, one of two of its kind still operating in the UK, uses a gondola on rails to carry vehicles and passengers across the River Tees.

Last month it emerged that 400 bolts, which hold down the track along which the gondola runs, needed replacing.

The bridge was opened in 1911 and is 850ft long and 225ft high at the tallest point.

Normally, about 50 of the bolts need to be replaced in any three-month period.

Bridgemaster Alan Murray said: "Staff have been working to replace the bolts as fast as possible and I'm delighted that, subject to final tests, we will have the bridge open again on Wednesday."

Highway Services Manager Ian Busby added: "This thorough overhaul of the tracks makes good engineering and economic sense, and the cost is a fraction of the full replacement of the rails."