THE Ministry of Defence must stump up the cash to repair a Grade II-listed bridge in Monmouth, an MP has said.

Inglis Bridge, which leads into Vauxhall Fields, was built by the army in 1931.

But the steel bridge, one of only two examples of its type still in existence, was closed to traffic in February after the army said it needed “urgent repairs”, although it has remained open to pedestrians. But since then nothing has happened.

Now Monmouth MP David Davies has written to defence secretary Gavin Williamson asking for the MoD to stump up the cash to repair it.

“A number of people have been in touch to ask when the bridge will fully reopen,” he said.

“I have had a long, but informal conversation about the situation with somebody connected to it and unfortunately there are disputes over money and responsibility.”

He continued: “I have been told that the army think it is the responsibility of the government agency, Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

“There have been some rough estimates made of the cost of putting things right and I am told that the bill for scaffolding alone would come to £40,000 and, although there has been no detailed estimate of the building works, it would certainly be a six-figure sum.

“Because the building is listed there would be no point in trying to build a new bridge and the existing one would in any case require repairs.

“I think the only way out of this impasse will be to try and get direct funding from the MoD to rebuild the bridge.

“I have written to the minister and will update local people as soon as I get a response.”

An MOD spokeswoman said: “We are currently discussing several options for the future repair of the bridge with a number of key community stakeholders.

"Any decision on funding will be considered alongside other Defence Infrastructure Organisation projects.”