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The charity set up to drive the development of London鈥檚 hugely controversial Garden Bridge plans has formally sounded the death knell of the project.

A statement from the Garden Bridge Trust said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Transport for London, and the Department for Transport had been informed that trustees had taken the decision to wind up the operation, effectively throwing in the towel on the Thomas Heatherwick-designed structure.

The project has already used up 拢37.4m of public money and the agreement to underwrite cancellation costs by the government could bring the bill to the taxpayer up to 拢46.4m.

Earlier this year Khan announced that he would not be a guarantor for the annual maintenance cost of the bridge, following an that shone a spotlight on a 拢70m funding gap and predicted the eventual project cost could be 拢200m.

Guaranteeing maintenance costs for the bridge had been a condition of planning permission for the structure, but the trust insisted it would seek alternative solutions. It鈥檚 latest statement acknowledges a failure to find any.

鈥淕arden Bridge Trust has examined in detail all options available to it,鈥� it said.

鈥淭his included discussions with a potential benefactor who was keen to provide the required guarantee. It also had further discussions with the government. Unfortunately, the benefactor concerned and the trustees have all concluded that they cannot proceed with what was always designed to be a public project in the heart of the capital without the support of the mayor of London.鈥�

The trust said the project would now be formally closed. 鈥淭his includes terminating contracts, and concluding donor funding agreements,鈥� it said. 鈥淭he trust itself will then be wound up in accordance with the Companies Acts.鈥�

Trust chair Lord Mervyn Davies said the organisation was 鈥渋ncredibly sad鈥� to have been unable to make the bridge a reality, a situation he laid at Khan鈥檚 feet.

鈥淲e had made great progress obtaining planning permission, satisfying most of our planning conditions and we had raised 拢70m of private money towards the project,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he Garden Bridge would have been a unique place; a beautiful new green space in the heart of London, free to use and open to all, showcasing the best of British talent and innovation. It is all the more disappointing because the Trust was set up at the request of TfL, the organisation headed up by the mayor, to deliver the project.

鈥淚t is a sad day for London because it is sending out a message to the world that we can no longer deliver such exciting projects.鈥�