May Day revellers are to be barred from Oxford's Magdalen Bridge after all.

Highways officials announced today they would overrule Oxford City Council and seal off the bridge on May Day morning.

City councillors had voted to keep the bridge open, against the advice of police that it should be closed on safety grounds.

Experts feared people would be injured in the 25,000-strong crowd expected at dawn on Saturday. Now the county council has decided to act as the authority responsible for the road over the bridge.

Peter Brown, the county's bridge engineer, confirmed the bridge would be closed from 4am to 8am. He said: "There have been widespread concerns about the dangers of crushing and trampling in a large, closely-packed crowd. There is also concern about the parapets of the bridge if placed under that sort of pressure."

The announcement follows nearly two weeks of talks. Police chiefs were understood to have threatened not to allow their officers on the bridge and the city council was preparing to use 100 stewards.

Story date: Wednesday 28 April

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