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Humber toll increase rejected
COVER STORY
By David Harris THE HUMBER BRIDGE hoard has been told by the government that it will not be allowed to increase tolls this year.
Transport minister Sadiq Khan says the move to deny a proposed rise is in response to the recession.
The board had planned to raise tolls in line with inflation, which would have increased the one-way price for trucks from £18.30 to £19.90. It is understood that following the summer recess of Parliament, the board will ask for detailed reasons why the rise was rejected.
Khan says: "I do not believe it is right for the Humber Bridge tolls to be raised in the current economic climate and so, after careful consideration, I have decided not to accept the proposed increases."
The government's rejection of the increase overturns an earlier public inquiry ruling that the increase should be allowed to go ahead in the face of considerable local opposition to it (CM 6 Nov 2008). Local councils had been at the forefront of the opposition. led by the Humber Unitary Leaders group made up of Hull City Council, East Riding Council, North Lincolnshire Council, and North East Lincolnshire Council.
The Humber crossing opened in 1981 with debts of £115m, which escalated because the tolls collected did not even cover the interest on loans.
• Following the freeze on the Humber Bridge toll, the Freight Transport A.s,sodation (ETA) has railed for the government to rethink tolls on the two Severn cros,sinws.
Ian Gallagher, FTA policy manager for Wales and the South West, says: "The cripplingly high cost of using the Severn Bridge is a huge detriment to businesses in south Wales and western England. Some ETA members are spending tens of thousands of pounds each month just on bridge tolls, making it a tax on doing business in this part of the UK. A serious rethink is needed,"