A welcome hooray to the statement in the press of the MPs coming aboard – at last the suggestion that I have being advocating for over 20 years – that there needs to be a crossing over the River Severn reconnecting Purton to Purton or Lydney to Sharpness, is now getting some attention. It does tick so many boxes.

Use the river as an asset rather than allowing it to divide the county. By using stanchions or pillars, the proposed bridge has anchors for turbines to generate electricity.

Relieve the A48 at Over, and allow high loads that are unable to get under the three railway bridges, two of which high sided vehicles have to use the middle of the road.

Blakeney, Newnham, and Westbury, all asking for by-passes, the best way to achieve this is to go over the river at Purton.

If the bridge was to be a rail-road bridge, the electrification of the rail line from London to Swansea, would be easier than using the Severn Tunnel from which millions of gallons of water have to be pumped daily.

Should the Severn Tunnel fail for any reason then trains would not have to go all the way up to Gloucester to get to Bristol and beyond.

Last but not least, in my opinion it would be a much cleaner, saver way of generating electricity than the proposed nuclear power station, over the river and, I suspect, cheaper.

– Bill Hobman, Lydney.