The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has been given £600,000 to strengthen the Albert Bridge, currently closed to vehicles over 2t because its steel girders have corroded.

The scheme, necessary to bring the listed structure up to the minimum, legally-allowed weight restriction of 3t, is one of a raft of local transport projects designed to improve London’s infrastructure in 2009/10, prior to the 2012 Olympic Games. The £168.3M funding also includes £7M in cycling and walking facilities for the games, and £2.3M for a scheme to improve Leicester Square in the West End.