SDLP Deputy Leader and Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on him to hand over the funds for a failed bridge project to the North.

Ms Mallon has consistently called Boris Johnson's bridge plans a “Tory vanity project”.

It is understood that Boris Johnson has now shelved his dream for a bridge or tunnel connecting Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Welcoming the move, SDLP Deputy Leader and Minister Nichola Mallon has sent a memo to the Prime Minister demanding that the investment instead is redirected to the North so money can be spent on the public services that citizens and communities here deserve.

North Belfast MLA Ms Mallon said:

“Finally Boris Johnson seems to accept that his vanity project, the Boris Bridge, is not only technically unworkable but is a gross misuse of public money.

“Now this issue is set to be put to bed, I have today sent a memo to the Prime Minister calling for this promised investment to be provided to the North so it can be used to enhance our public services to ensure we can deliver what our citizens and communities deserve.

“After almost 15 years of the DUP and Sinn Féin leading Government, our public services are continuing to crumble. Only the SDLP is standing up to Boris and his cronies in Number 10 to prioritise the needs of people over party political self interest. It’s long past time the promises of investment and delivery in New Decade New Approach materialised.”