A MAYOR-to-mayor plea has been sounded for extra cash to repair the beleaguered Transporter Bridge.

An extra £655,000 will be signed off by Middlesbrough Council for urgent works at the 109-year-old bridge next week with options on its future being mulled over.

Now Middlesbrough mayor Andy Preston wants to tap into money controlled by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen to restore the “badly treated” Teesside icon.

The independent mayor said: “To me this issue is a Teesside-wide issue because the people who use and love the bridge live in all local boroughs.  

“This matter is also a transport issue.

“As a Tees-wide transport issue, we need to tap into some of the £130-140m that the government gives our area for transport matters.

“This money is placed with the combined authority – and the decision makers on it are the leaders of local councils and its elected mayor Ben Houchen.

“I’ve been talking with the leader of Stockton Council Bob Cook about this and we will both raise the issue with other Tees leaders very soon.”

The Transporter Bridge has been shut since August 2019 due to safety concerns. 

Retiring the bridge from carrying passengers and turning it into a visitor attraction is forecast to cost the council £4m in the next decade.  

Meanwhile, officials say there will be a £7m price tag in the next ten years to fully restore the bridge to carry vehicles at peak times. 

Mr Preston also confirmed the council would be approaching the Government and other bodies to see if they can provide extra cash. 

More details are due to be announced about the two options being considered for its future this week.

A raft of problems and missteps in the management of the bridge have been uncovered in a stark audit report. 

The probe found “mostly passive and ineffective” oversight by the council. 

And the GMB union has also accused the authority of “cost cutting” at the site despite repeated warnings that the bridge was in a “dangerous state of repair”.

Councillors will give officers a grilling about how the bridge was looked after in a meeting on Thursday.

Middlesbrough and Stockton Council have joint responsibility for the 223ft bridge – but Stockton looks after Newport Bridge while Middlesbrough takes the lead at the Transporter.

Cllr Cook said he was aware of Mr Preston’s request for funding.

The Labour leader added: “We’ve got joint responsibility so we’ve got to look at things to make sure it doesn’t close. 

“Although it isn’t the most efficient bridge, it’s a crossing of the Tees and people from Port Clarence use it to get to Middlesbrough to avoid going all the way around. 

“We’ve got to do something for the bridge – we need to work with Middlesbrough to see how we can achieve that.”

Politicians from across the spectrum have urged leaders to restore the Transporter and keep it carrying traffic. 

Last week, Mr Houchen said he didn’t want to see the bridge treated as a relic and urged leaders to retain it as a crossing point. 

He added: “On the council’s figures and given its importance to the town, I see no reason why this money shouldn’t be spent to allow us to keep people moving across the Tees. 

“Until it shut in 2019, the Transporter was the longest working bridge of its kind in the world and it would be wrong for that to come to an end now.

“We must keep the Transporter Bridge moving and I’m sure people across Middlesbrough and Teesside will agree council chiefs should reconsider this terrible idea. 

“We don’t want to see this famous bridge stood still forever.”

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) has lined up £186m to spend on transport projects in its investment plan up to 2029. 

The metro mayor has been contacted for comment on Mr Preston’s latest plea for help.