Extra £16m for Forth and Tay bridges

Nearly £16 million extra will be spent maintaining bridges across the Tay and Forth this year, if the Scottish Government budget is approved.

The Forth and Tay bridge authorities will share a budget of £37.3m in 2020/21, compared to the £21.5m they received last year.

Meanwhile, the budget for the Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) – better known as the Queensferry Crossing – will fall from £8.1m to £2.4m.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: The Forth and Tay bridge capital budgets relate to the timing and nature of planned maintenance work and will vary year on year.

“The FRC project is winding down and the contractor is demobilising from site. As such, the profile of the budget is reducing.”

A major project is under way to replace all of the Forth road bridge’s main expansion joints.

The work is due to be completed this year.

Planned works for the Tay road bridge this year include an inspection of piers and columns, the installation of new gantries and refurbishment of the bridge office.

As of yesterday, the number of people in Scotland who have been tested for coronavirus has risen to 38 – with all results coming back negative.

The Scottish Government revealed the latest figures as global data showed the number of reported new cases of the virus has started to decline.

There were roughly 3,900 new cases reported worldwide on Wednesday, falling to 3,700 on Thursday and 3,200 yesterday, World Health Organisation figures show.

The vast majority of all cases continue to be in China, however experts are unclear if the figures represent an actual fall in cases or whether they will continue to drop off.

A total of 620 people have been tested across the UK and three cases have been confirmed. It is understood the third person to be diagnosed is a man who contracted the virus in Singapore.