The task force working on the 133-year-old Hammersmith Bridge in West London says it will not reopen to traffic for six and a half years.

The bridge has already been shut to traffic for a year, and is now also closed off to pedestrians and cyclists because structural surveys suggest it’s in “immediate danger” of collapse.

ITS News reports that experts leading the taskforce, set up by the Department for Transport last month revealed the bridge required major stabilisation and strengthening work.

Baroness Vere, from the DfT, who chaired a meeting of the taskforce said they were “looking at six and a half years” before the bridge would fully reopen to vehicles.

There are three phases of stabilisation and strengthening work required, costing in excess of £125 million. It is not known how the local council, Transport for London and the Department for Transport might split the costs.