The Garden Bridge Trust, the charity established to champion a new bridge across the Thames, has announced that it will close down.
The trust was set up to raise money for the project while Boris Johnson was mayor of London. However after Sadiq Khan became mayor, he refused to give his backing to the project, leaving it unable to continue.
Now the trust has said that after considering other options, it has concluded that it will have to shut down.
The trust had raised £70m of private money, which it has said it will repay to its donors. It has also received around £60m of public money, most of which has been spent, although £20m was considered a loan by Transport for London, and may be repaid.
Lord Mervyn Davies, chair of the trust, said: "It is with great regret that trustees have concluded that without mayoral support the project cannot be delivered. We are incredibly sad that we have not been able to make the dream of the Garden Bridge a reality and that the mayor does not feel able to continue with the support he initially gave us. We had made great progress obtaining planning permission, satisfying most of our planning conditions and we had raised £70m of private money towards the project.
"The Garden Bridge would have been a unique place; a beautiful new green space in the heart of London, free to use and open to all, showcasing the best of British talent and innovation.”
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