Non-stop tolls plan for river crossing

The Humber Bridge Board has plans for a new toll system that will allow frequent users to fit their vehicles with a device that will electronically record each crossing.

They will be charged the fee to an account held with the bridge.

Other users will still have to stop at a booth, although those will be upgraded to incorporate the new technology.

Bridgemaster Peter Hill said: "Our current tolling system has been in place since the bridge opened in 1981, so it is definitely due an update and the equipment itself is rapidly becoming obsolete and very expensive to maintain.

"We are going to make this essential replacement of the equipment in the best way possible, to both enhance our service to the communities and industries on both sides of the Humber and make the toll collection process as efficient as possible.

"While we still need to collect tolls to repay the debt and maintain the bridge, this new system will speed up the crossing process for regular users and reduce queues on the bridge at busy times."

Tenders for the work required will be invited later this year and work is expected to start in 2011.

Last October it was announced the tolls would be frozen until 2011 after the then Government met a 6m funding gap in the bridge's finances.

Bridge chiefs wanted to raise the charge for a single crossing by car by 20p to 2.90 – a rise they said was necessary to meet the schedule of paying back the 332m debt by 2038.