National Highways has successfully removed 35 faulty lighting columns on the Prince of Wales bridge (M4 J23-J22) and have reopened the bridge in both directions. 

The emergency works saw the agency temporarily switch off lighting on the bridge and a 40mph advisory speed limit was in place on the bridge during the hours of darkness.

“Safety is always our number one priority,” said a National Highways spokesperson. “Thank you for your patience while we completed this emergency work.”

The bridge was closed in both directions overnight from 8pm Tuesday 9 December to 6am Wednesday 10 December to allow an engineering team to remove the lighting columns that were at risk of collapse.