Humber opens up tolls to inquiry
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• Hauliers objecting to the 40% price rise proposed for the Humber Bridge crossing will have the chance to vent their anger at a public inquiry in October.
The inquiry, which is expected to last for three weeks, will study the Humber Bridge Board's plan to increase the toll from .C10.90 to £15.40 for a truck with more than four axles. The fee for three-axled trucks is due to rise to £1230.
The inquiry's inspector, who has been appointed by the Department of the Environment, will have the power to block the increases but the Bridge Board says the rises are in line with inflation it expects the rises to go through largely intact.
However, the Road Haulage Association is expected to fight the increases fiercely, arguing that hauliers will further be put off using the bridge.
The Bridge Board plans to implement the rises in three stages between spring 1997 and the end of 1998. Li The Bridge Board is haggling with the Department of Transport over how much of its £435m debt the Government will write off.