Bridge toll cut ‘a stunt’ says councillor

North East Lincolnshire Council leader Chris Shaw will meet unitary leaders tomorrow to discuss the write-off the Government is proposing which would see tolls halved to £1.50.

The authority and three others are being asked to underwrite a 25 per cent share of the remaining £182m debt. Councillor Shaw says this will mean residents in Grimsby taking on twice the level of debt as those living in Beverley.

He said: “We are not prepared to do an arbitrary 25 per cent split because the Chancellor thinks it’s a good idea and some MPs think it is a good idea. Ratepayers round here don’t think it’s a good idea.

“It’s another ill-thought out soundbite from the Government.”

The chairman of the Humber Bridge Board, David Gemmel, has already confirmed tolls will have to start rising again from 2015 to help pay for the running of the bridge.

Hull businessman Malcolm Scott, who put in one of the bids to buy the bridge debt, estimates the board will rack up a shortfall of at least £6m in the first year of the new toll regime. “They need to increase traffic by 80 per cent to break even,” said Mr Scott.

“All we’ve asked from the day of the announcement is to have the bridge board’s and the Department of Transport’s calculations on how the £182m is sustainable. We have received nothing.”