One of the busiest road bridges in Europe has been closed to allow essential engineering work to be carried out.

The M8 Kingston Bridge in Glasgow shut at midnight on Saturday for six hours.

The weekend closure is the first of three which will take place this month.

The 50,000 tonne structure is currently undergoing strengthening costing �31.5m.

The bridge was closed in both directions, from junction 19 (Anderston) to junction 21 (Seaward Street), and motorists were asked to follow the 11 clearly signposted diversion routes around the city.

Further closures

The other closures will take place during two other weekends in August.

The 30-year-old bridge was jacked up from its old supports last October and moved southwards by two inches in a high-profile operation.

Before that took place, motorists using the M8 motorway link across the River Clyde were warned of major diversions.

The bridge is one of Europe's busiest, carrying an average 150,000 vehicles a day.

The work was undertaken after the discovery of major defects in the bridge in 1990. Bulges were found in the north pier wall near the bridge's support piers.