Queues and delays just hours after £1.3bn bridge opens

 Hours after motorists sounded their horns to mark the long-awaited opening of the £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing, normal service was resumed in the shape of rush hour delays, long queues and even the first broken down lorry.

The spectacular third bridge across the Forth, linking Edinburgh to Fife, opened at around 2am with a procession following police vehicles, many drivers honking their horns and blowing whistles on the 1.7-mile structure. The bridge, which was approved 10 years ago, has taken six years to build. It will carry around 65,000 vehicles a day on one of Scotland’s busiest roads.

But by rush hour on day one, queues built up, with southbound motorists heading for the capital complaining they had been stuck in traffic for an hour.

Traffic Scotland blamed delays on “more drivers wanting to experience the new bridge for themselves”.

The Queen will officially open the bridge on Monday.