'Iconic' £31m footbridge opens to public

The crossing links Keel Square to the Sheepfolds area and the city's football stadium

A new footbridge is set to "absolutely transform" Sunderland, providing direct access from the city centre to the iconic Stadium of Light, council bosses have said.

The £31m Keel Crossing, which links Keel Square to the Sheepfolds area and the city's football stadium, officially opened with a parade of fans crossing it on foot ahead of the Black Cats' game against Wolves.

The bridge opened to the public for one day in August, for the debut of the Women's Rugby World Cup on Wearside, but was closed for another two months for final finishing touches.

"It's going to make a huge difference," said Sunderland City Council Labour leader Michael Mordey.

"We're extremely proud that the people of Sunderland will get to use this fantastic piece of infrastructure," Mordey said.

"It's expanding the perimeter of the city - bringing in the Stadium of Light and the Sheepfolds area into the city centre."

Fans led the way across the bridge, ahead of the Black Cats' game

Now the footbridge is open, fans arriving in the city centre will be able to reach the stadium on foot within minutes - rather than having to cross the Wearmouth Bridge, as they did previously.

The bridge - for pedestrians and cylists - was named in tribute to Sunderland's ship-building past, but some local residents complained it should have shared its name with past, and present, Sunderland managers, reflecting the city's footballing heritage.

Mordey rejected any criticism, saying the Keel title was a "fitting tribute" to Sunderland once being the "largest venue in the world" for shipbuilding.

The footbridge includes the Keel Line, bearing the engraved names of ships and builders once based on Wearside.

Flares in red and white were set off to mark the temporary opening of the bridge during the Women's Rugby World Cup earlier this year

The bridge has taken more than two years to complete, with several sections transported up the River Wear having been manufactured in Ghent, in Belgium.

Ian Cussons, operations director at VolkerStevin, the firm which built the bridge, said it was a proud moment for the many people who had designed and worked on it.

"This is iconic, it's a one-off bespoke bridge befitting of this location, very different to other bridges that we've seen," he said.

"The team see these structures come around once in a career - so this is more than what anybody hoped for."

The names of shipbuilders who once worked on Wearside can be seen engraved on a walkway leading from the city centre and onto the new bridge