The love of thousands of couples is a tough weight to bear. Parisians will be well aware of this when they pass the famous Pont des Arts this morning, which has been closed off after a section of railing collapsed last night.

The bridge, which spans the Seine and sits across fom the Louvre, is noted for the tradition of lovers attaching locks bearing their names and tossing the key into the river below. It is estimated that the total weight of the locks is around 93 tons.

Though it will reopen tomorrow, the collapse will certainly inflame debate over the bridge, with many Parisians seeing the tradition as ugly and damaging.

Though Pont des Arts is the best known example, the practice of couples attaching locks to bridges has spread worldwide since its apparent origin in Serbia.

Earlier this year, Dublin City Council placed signs on the Ha'penny Bridge asking people not to continue attaching locks after 300kg of the tokens were removed in a year.