A third Thames bridge could get £800,000 funding by early next year.

Transport for South East, which plans strategic transport across the region, has submitted a £800,000 bid to the government after prioritising the bridge project.

Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell councils all support the idea of a bridge across the river from the Thames Valley business park to land near Playhatch, which is in South Oxfordshire.

But Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) have both opposed plans for the bridge until measures to counter its impact on Oxfordshire’s road network are costed and specified.

The Department for Transport could respond to the bid as soon as the end of this year but may take until early 2020, according to councillor Tony Page.

Cllr Page, Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) lead member for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport said. “It is really depressing that OCC don’t recognise the substantial flows of traffic from places such as Sonning and Henley into and through Reading.

“They have a responsibility to the people who live in south Oxfordshire. They want the work done but they don’t want to pay for it.

“There will be a bridge at some stage. It is essential.”

In 2015 the Berkshire authorities produced a £250,000 business case for the bridge and the benefits it would provide in Berkshire.

A third Thames bridge was estimated to cost at least £110 million.

If the bid to is successful, it would be conditional on local authorities contributing 15 per cent of the funding.

Council representatives discussed the project with MPs Matt Rodda, Theresa May and John Howell on Friday, October 18.

Cllr Page said: “It was a positive meeting. Theresa May was very positive as she always has been about the need and benefits of a third Thames bridge.

“I was disappointed by the initial opposition from the Oxfordshire councils.

“SODC is now much more engaged. They recognise there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and affects their residents.

“Unlike OCC who still seem to believe no one in Oxfordshire goes to Reading at all.”

Both OCC and SODC have recently backed motions opposing a bridge for cars – they say the bridge should be just for public transport, cycling and walking.

If a car-based solution is pursued, the councils say mitigation measures to improve the Oxfordshire road network should be costed and specified beforehand.