A new 7.5tonne weight limit comes into force on busy Chobham Road railway bridge in Sunningdale from Monday - despite being the cause of a bitter row between the Royal Borough and neighbouring Surrey County Council.

The two authorities have been at loggerheads since the Royal Borough's decision to impose an 18 tonne ban on the bridge. Surrey councillors feared it would merely force lorries onto even more dangerous routes in their area, particularly in Chobham and Windlesham.

The two sides confronted each other at a meeting of the Royal Borough's cabinet in the Guildhall, Windsor in February.

But Royal Borough councillors still voted to reduce the weight limit even more to 7.5 tonnes at the meeting. This week the council announced the reduced limit would come into effect from this Monday, April 4.

Surrey County Council's cabinet member for highways Cllr John Furey accused the Royal Borough of going ahead without the facts or statistics.

He said: "What I'm concerned about is their lack of a holistic view of the road network in their area and ours.

"If you close one area off to heavy traffic you affect the total traffic network."

He felt the council was showing great shortsightedness but said negotiations over the issue appeared to be over.

He said: "They must do what they must do. We will consider our position."

But the Royal Borough's cabinet member for highways Colin Rayner said the authority's decision to impose the weight limit followed the presentation of a 1,000 name petition.

He said he could have used his powers to impose the limit without having the open meeting at the Guildhall and inviting the Surrey councillors. But he chose to argue the issue in the open.

He said: "We have gone ahead because of the dangers caused by lorries crossing that bridge. The possible routes in Surrey that might get diverted lorries are all less dangerous than this bridge.

"I have driven over it 10 times and it is dangerous because of its crooked entrance and exit."