THE GMB Union said they were concerned that the information shared, by Middlesbrough Council on the Transporter Bridge, is not an accurate reflection of the issues relating to the eventual closure of the bridge.

The GMB said that its members who have worked tirelessly on the bridge feel that the council indicated that it is them who have a lack of knowledge and they are to blame for the poor running and maintenance of the bridge.

Julie Wynn, GMB Organiser, said: “The GMB believe there are two issues here that the council fail to recognise the importance of – one- how the bridge got into the state it is and two- the more worrying issue of the council's insistence of pursuing cost cutting by a director who was also responsible for health and safety despite being informed the bridge was in a dangerous state of repair."

Mrs Wynn said that members working on the bridge had been highlighting serious health and safety concerns for years.

She said: “In 2019 our members were called to a meeting which was the start of a process to review the operation of the bridge, this review intended to increase the running times of the bridge and reduce the number of staff working on the maintenance of the bridge. Our members were horrified and at that first meeting highlighted once again that the bridge was in fact a ‘death trap’ and reminded management that they had been raising serious health and safety concerns for years. The council refused to listen and continued with the review, our members felt at that point they had no other option but to use the Council’s Whistleblowing policy as a last ditch attempt to prevent a very serious incident occurring on the bridge, hence the involvement of the Audit Department. If it were not for the involvement and whistleblowing from the GMB members, that bridge would have been running more often with less staff and who knows what horrific incident would have occurred."