Tower Bridge glass walkway 'smashed' by night-time visitor dropping bottle of beer

'Gutted' manager says it was 'a bit shortsighted' to allow guests to carry glass onto 140ft-high platform

(Peter Gordon/Twitter)

Less than two weeks after the opening of a vertigo-inducing glass walkway almost 140 feet (42 metres) above the River Thames, a stiletto and dropped beer bottle are threatening to shatter public confidence in the new Tower Bridge attraction.

The walkway consists of six huge glass panels each weighing more than half a tonne, providing a new view across London, onto the traffic below and – if you’re lucky – the opening of the bridge itself.

But as if stepping over a see-through floor that high up wasn’t scary enough, one of the panes cracked on Friday night when a visitor dropped a glass bottle.

According to ITV News, the attraction remained open – and the glass shattered further when it was walked on by a woman in stilettos.

At no point was anyone at risk of falling through into the murky waters below since, according to the walkway’s manager, the damage only involved the top, “sacrificial” layer of glass – one of five in total.

But Tower Bridge head Chris Earlie told ITV he was “gutted” about the incident and that it may well lead to a change in the rules for guests.

“We are gutted it's happened in the first couple of weeks when it's been open to the public but it's completely safe.

“We should have said no glass on the glass section of the floor. It was a bit shortsighted of us.”

Mr Earlie said the top layer of glass was designed to be easily replaceable in the event of a scratch, and that the walkway would have closed if there had been “any concerns”. It was covered with a mat and due to be fixed on Sunday night, he added.