A LEGAL requirement for the capital debt associated with building the Tay Road Bridge to be paid off within 50 years of its completion—giving a date of 2016—is expected to be rescinded by the Scottish Executive.

The decision to attach a 50-year repayment limit on the bridge was taken by the Government in 1962, four years before it opened at a cost of just under £5 million.

The joint bridge board, faced with the prospect of repaying as much as £30 million over the next nine years, wrote to the Executive earlier this year asking that the condition be revoked.

The rule is considered something of an anomaly in local government finance as there is no other public sector body bearing that kind of deadline.

Standard practice usually links the length of the repayment to the useful life of the asset.

Now, however, it seems the issue will be tackled at the same time as the abolition of tolls.

Board treasurer David Dorward told a meeting of the board yesterday that it looked as if the requirement would be removed and the board would have the opportunity to refinance and pay off the debt over a much longer period, possibly as much as 50 years.

The fact that the present repayment requirement is enshrined in legislation means it will take another act of parliament to remove it.

The Scottish Executive is working on the bill that would see tolls on the Tay and Forth road bridges abolished and the 50-year rule is likely to be tackled at the same time.

If that is the case, it is expected a system of revenue and capital grants will replace the toll-raising part of the bridge’s finance.

Capital grants are already paid to the bridge board, which has responsibility for maintenance, and any revenue grant would have to be sufficient to match the net income from the tolls.