Westminster Bridge works to continue

Repairs to Westminster Bridge are to blight the landmark for a further 12 months.

Metal hoardings sealing off the Commons side of the bridge were put up last year, with a sign declaring work would be completed by August 2004.

But new signs have been attached saying the programme of works - "Repairs Phase One" - will not be finished until summer 2005.

The bridge is used by thousands of commuters and tourists each day, but since the work began pedestrians have been crammed onto the eastside pavement.

To add to their frustration, regular users of the crossing report that nobody has been seen working on the site for several months.

The scaffolding has also blotted out views of Parliament and the rest of the river.

Conservative MP Mark Field, the party's spokesman for London, called for the works to be completed quickly. He said: "This is a blight on the landscape which has caused a great deal of problems for pedestrians. The sooner they finish the work, the better.

"If there has been a delay, which there may be for perfectly understandable reasons, let's have the truth."

The ?6million repairs to the Grade II-listed bridge are being carried out by Mowlem Marine on behalf of Transport for London. A spokesman for TfL said the work - to protect the supporting columns - had been suspended for the summer so as not to disrupt the river traffic during the tourist season.