Richmond Council plans to bid for funding for works to prolong the life of London's oldest surviving bridge over the River Thames.

Richmond Council will ask the Department for Transport (DfT) for cash to protect Richmond Bridge, which connects Richmond town centre to East Twickenham, for generations to come.

A number of bridges in London are undergoing costly refurbishment works, including Albert Bridge and most notably Hammersmith Bridge, and it's hoped that by doing some upgrades now on Richmond Bridge, it'll avoid more expensive repairs in future.

Council officers said they had no structural concerns about the bridge, but would like to give it a longer life and carry out works before it became more difficult and expensive to maintain.

The Grade I listed bridge was built over the River Thames between 1774 and 1777 when King George III was on the throne and Britain was battling George Washington's forces in America.

The London Museum says the structure is the "oldest surviving Thames bridge in London".

The authority plans to apply for cash from the DfT's new fund to maintain and improve bridges up to 2030.

Nick O'Donnell, Richmond's Director of Growth and Place, told the council's Transport Committee on June 9 the DfT had asked the authority to put forward one scheme for the fund, which would likely be Richmond Bridge.

He said the bridge was "in reasonable state, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, but there are investments that we'd like to make to strengthen, improve and overall enhance the maintenance aspect of the bridge that would help it last a lot longer".

Mr O'Donnell said: "It doesn't mean that it's in any way falling down or in critical condition, but the way to manage your assets best is to get in there in reasonable time and reasonable earliness to ensure that you're investing in the asset to keep its longevity."

He told the meeting officers had not confirmed the amount of money they would be bidding for, but it would likely be in the region of £2million.

The authority has carried out smaller-scale works to the bridge in recent years, including resurfacing it last year. It also completed major works to both Teddington Lock footbridges last year.

Regarding potential works to Richmond Bridge, Lib Dem councillor Alexander Ehmann said: "It's very much in keeping with the type of investment we've made in Teddington Lock footbridge structures, which is that we're not going to wait until something is structurally at risk until we invest in it.

"We do need to invest in it to make sure that its lifetime is extended beyond what we already know."

Councillor Ehmann added: "Its condition is assessed to be perfectly acceptable at the moment, but we would just like to give it a longer life and give it more structural integrity over that life."

The council expects to make the application this month. Successful bids to the DfT's fund will be announced in autumn.