• Public ballot for free guided tours inside Queensferry Crossing deck

• Charity prize draw for tower top trips

The public ballot for Doors Open Day tours inside the Queensferry Crossing deck is now open.

A total of 180 places will be available, departing every 20 minutes on 27 September from the bridge office in South Queensferry.

Tours will last approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, visiting parts of the Queensferry Crossing normally closed to the public, including the interior of the box girder deck and the central reservation where the bridge’s cable stays are anchored. Commentary will be provided by experienced members of staff from Transport Scotland’s operating company BEAR Scotland.

How to enter

Members of the public can enter by visiting www.bearscot.com/doorsopenday. The ballot will close on 22 August and successful applicants will be notified over the following days.

Participants must be able to climb several flights of stairs and walk for several hundred metres. The tours are not suitable for children under the age of 12, and children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

There will be no charge for the tours, however donations to charity will be welcomed. All money raised will go to BEAR Scotland’s national charity partner Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

Charity prize draw for tower top trips

The exhibition at the Forth Bridges Contact & Education centre in South Queensferry will also be open to the public on 27 September. Anyone who attends on the day will have the chance to enter a charity prize draw for one of five trips for two to the top of one of the Queensferry Crossing’s main towers.

David Bishop, BEAR Scotland’s South East Bridges Manager, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming the public to the Queensferry Crossing and sharing our passion for maintaining this iconic bridge.

“We’re expecting high demand, so places will be allocated randomly to make it as fair as possible.

“Even if you’re unsuccessful in the ballot, you can still come along to the exhibition on 27 September and enter the prize draw for one of five pairs of tickets for a tower top trip.

“Hopefully we can raise lots of money for a great cause in Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.”

The event will form part of the annual Doors Open Days festival. It will be the first event of its kind on the UK’s tallest bridge, which opened in 2017.