A Falkirk councillor has described the new £120m Clackmannanshire Bridge as a "wasted opportunity".

Craig Martin spoke of the bridge, which opened in November, raising safety concerns as both approaches to the crossing are lit, but the bridge itself has no lighting.

He said: "The actual bridge has been a massive success for the local area, of that there's no doubt, but for the amount of money spent on it, it's a wasted opportunity.

"It's a long bridge and, as far as I know, the original assessment of it included lighting but that seems to have been changed.

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"Why does the old Kincardine Bridge have lights but there are none on this?"

The 1.2km structure, which carries 20,000 vehicles a day, was constructed to provide an alternative route to the Kincardine Bridge from Falkirk and Clackmannanshire to Fife.

The bridge has drawn complaints from people in the area who used the bridge's cycle paths and walkways.

Cllr Martin added: "When you are in the middle of the bridge there is complete darkness. If a car broke down it could be very dangerous."

In a statement, Transport Scotland said: "Transport Scotland has a policy of fully assessing the need for lighting on any new structures and will only introduce lighting where it is absolutely necessary.

"In this instance, an assessment was carried out which determined lighting was not required from a safety point of view and would be detrimental from an environmental perspective."

(GK/KMcA)