MONMOUTH'S vital new river crossing will cost £1 million more than anticipated after costs escalated.

Work is continuing on the second bridge over the River Monnow after members of Monmouthshire county council voted to meet the shortfall.

The decision last July to build a second bridge across the river ended decades of controversy and debate and it was an announcement which was welcomed by many people in the town.

Monmouth had waited more than 60 years for a new crossing to replace and help protect the original Monnow Bridge, which is an ancient monument.

Bottlenecks are a regular occurrence in that part of town as traffic tries to make its way across the old bridge.

"Not only does that cause problems but it's the oldest bridge in Great Britain and needs to be protected. Now and again lorries try to go through, and hit it," said councillor leader David Waring.

Work on the bridge began in May when Councillor Waring cut the first sod at the site. It was anticipated that the work would cost more than £1 million but that has now shot up to more than £2 million.

The leap in costs was due to increased fees and other organisations had faced similar problems with their projects, including the new National Assembly building.

At their last meeting, members of the full council had to decide what action to take and one option was to stop work on the bridge.

But the chairman of the highways committee, supported by the leader, put forward the case for completing the work.

Councillor Waring said there was concern the finance would have to be taken from other projects.

"We gave the assurance that the money we have been able to find to complete the bridge would not have been spent this year because of slippage. We can use that to finalise this project and we will replace the money we have had to use in next year's budget," he said.

As part of the work, the old Monnow Bridge is being repaved to allow pedestrians and cyclists into the town.