Tens of thousands of spectators turned up to watch the royal cavalcade slowly cross the 3,300ft (1,005m) central span of the bridge.

Soldiers of Lowland regiments from the south linked up symbolically with a Highland brigade from the north to mark the opening of the new crossing, which cuts more than an hour off the journey-time by road.

The Forth Road Bridge is currently the fourth longest in the world - but it will be succeeded by the Tagus in Portugal which will be 23ft (7m) longer when it opens in 1967.

Opening ceremony

Twenty-five Royal Navy ships fired a salute of guns and after a brief opening speech from the Queen there was also a fly-past.

The new bridge sits beside the old cantilever rail bridge, opened in 1890 by the then Prince of Wales.

Afterwards the Queen returned across the Forth by ferry, marking the final trip in the 800-year-old service.

At its peak, the service was running 40,000 trips a year, carrying 1.5m people.

The four ferryboats have been run by 70 men only 30 of whom will be re-employed on the new bridge collecting tolls. For some it will mean a salary cut from £18 to £12 a week.

The opening ceremony is estimated to have cost £25,000 - only a fraction of the cost of building the bridge.

When the idea was first mooted in 1946, the estimated cost was put at £6m. The Government contributed £4,650,000 and has never increased its grant.

The remainder of the money has come from an Exchequer loan, which now looks like it will never be paid off.

Assuming five million cars cross the bridge annually, the toll charge of 2s 6d will bring in an annual income of £600,000, but this will not even pay off the interest on the loan. The cost of the crossing would have to be raised to 13s to repay the loan but that is considered far too expensive.

Up to 400 men have worked on the bridge sometimes in very dangerous conditions with winds up to 100mph. Three men lost their lives - others were saved by the terylene safety nets suspended beneath them.

It took 39,000 tons of steel, 30,800 miles of wire in the suspension cables, and is 163ft above the river at its highest point.

The bridge will eventually be silver-grey in colour, but work on its final coat was suspended for the opening ceremony.

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