Fife MSP Willie Rennie said: "People living in Edinburgh and Fife now face the prospect of weeks of disruption.

"This is the last thing that we needed to see in the run in to Christmas.

"Safety must come first, but this extended closure will cause huge inconvenience and impact on families and businesses alike.

"We must assume that Transport Scotland had a detailed plan for when the bridge would close for extended periods of time.

"This would cover issues like additional train carriages, diversion routes, communication with the public and so on. 

"Considering the length of this closure I think it is only right that users of the bridge are able to examine the plan."

It has been a nightmare since they put the contraflow in place on the bridge so now all the Fifers can go another route and let our village get back to normal... This is a problem that has been growing for years and worse recently since the contraflo was out in place.

Dean, via Facebook  

Took me 3hrs to get over the bridge yesterday, my car started over heating but there was no where for me to stop so had to keep my fingers crossed and coax my car over I work in Edinburgh and cannot afford to take time off so today am getting the train, can't afford to keep using the train, come on guys get ur fingers out alternative transport at reduced price would be a start...

Mags, via Facebook

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Passenger ferry services across the Forth, additional rail services and a dedicated bus corridor with park and ride facilities are all options being considered for the duration of the bridge's closure.

The Scottish government's resilience committee said a full travel plan was being prepared.

Image source, PA

It said emergency vehicles would still be able to use the FRB in "bluelight situations".

It comes after Traffic Scotland reported 11-mile tailbacks during this morning's rush-hour on diversion routes.

Andy Willox, the organisation's Scottish policy convenor, said: “Small firms from right across Scotland and beyond will be alarmed to hear that the Forth Road Bridge will not reopen until 2016.

"Not only will this closure impact those that use the bridge to bring their goods or services to market, employers of all description will face serious disruption.

“Businesses will look forward to clear advice regards alternative routes. Further, communities and firms facing the worst disruption will look to local and national government to mitigate the impact of the measure.

"While matters of safety should override other concerns, every effort should be made to minimise the impact on the economy.”

Forth Road Bridge operators say a range of options for carrying out repair work on the bridge had been considered, including running traffic on it while repair work was in progress.

However, test found that even with a restriction in place on HGVs, continually running traffic over the bridge increased the risk of causing extensive secondary damage to the structure.

The Forth Road Bridge is to be closed until the new year because of structural faults, transport minister Derek Mackay has said.

The bridge has been closed since midnight with initial guidance saying it would be shut for at least 24 hours.

The minister has now said it would need at least three weeks to repair the bridge and safety was "paramount".

He said a full travel plan was being prepared, including extra trains and buses and possibly a ferry.

Mark Arndt, Amey's account director responsible for the bridge said: “The component failure is in a difficult to access location and our response is also highly dependent on weather conditions.

“We continue to work around the clock on inspections, assessments and calculations along with the development of designs to effect the necessary repairs, while at the same time mobilising all the resources required to reopen the bridge as soon as is possible.”

Image source, Forth Road Bridge

Transport Secretary Derek MacKay told press conference: "A period of about seven days is required for assessment and further inspection and modelling of the repair work to remedy the bridge.

"A period of two weeks will be required we believe to carry out the works itself - as it's quite a restrictive and tight area in terms of access - but that would be the period of works required. That three-week period is a working assumption because the work is weather dependent and it is the case that we require some head room to ensure that the job is done safely."