£1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge opens

Engineers have removed the barriers on the new £1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge

A new bridge in Gloucestershire has opened as part of the Cotswolds Canals Restoration Project.

Engineers removed the barriers on the new £1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge on Thursday.

Work on the structure, which carries the A46 over the old Thames and Severn Canal, started in July last year.

District Councillor Andy Reid said: "It is probably one of the biggest steps that has so far been taken in the regeneration of the canal."

"This is the one spot that pretty much everybody who drives through Stroud will get to see," he added.

The bridge had originally been due to open in November 2010 but building work was delayed because of bad weather and an unexpected excavation at its base.

The ongoing Cotswolds Canals Restoration Project aims to reconnect the River Severn with the River Thames.