Toll-free for more ... but still protests

BOROUGH chiefs have widened the criteria for who can be exempt from the controversial toll charges when crossing the Mersey Gateway bridge.

The announcement was made during a Halton Council meeting that was lobbied by protestors and lasted less than five minutes.

A Road User Charging Scheme Order (RUSCO) that widened the exemptions register was unanimously approved by a full session of the council, with immediate effect from Thursday, April 19.

Halton residents living in council tax band G and H properties who were ineligible for the local user discount scheme (LUDS), can now apply for free travel if they are in apprenticeships or in full time education, under a new Halton Local User Support Scheme.

The updated RUSCO also extends free travel to a wider range of accident and emergency and ambulance services, including vehicles used for the transport of blood, plasma or human organs.

Crucially, the new order clarifies the exact sum of the tolls, following a TPT ruling that said the charges were illegal as they were not specified clearly enough.

The Th previous i RUSCO did not t make k it clear that toll charges would be £2, and only specified a range of what the toll charges could be.

The TPT said that in its view this did not comply with the Transport Act 2000, putting into question the legality of all toll charges issued so far.

Halton Council denied the toll charges were illegal and have applied for a thirdparty review to be held by an organisation independent of the TPT on May 8.

At the time of the TPT ruling the council said its independent legal advisers judged the road user order to be ‘legally sound’.

However, that order was updated to specify exactly what vehicles were liable t to pay what toll charge.

Scrap The Mersey Toll c campaigners said the ‘trivial’ updates to the new RUSCO, such as adding tractors onto the exemption register, were an attempt tt t by Halton Council and Mersey Gateway to wriggle out of a jam instead of acknowledging their mistake.

Protesting outside Runcorn Town Hall, John McGoldrick said: “They are rushing through a change in the road user order to try and make legal the tolls which the TPT found to be illegal.

“We are very disappointed that not a single councillor ... Labour, Lib Dems or Tory voted against the new toll order.

“This was an opportunity for them to go against the authorities and all the faceless people behind these divisive tolls and they fluffed it.

“Given that they have changed the law, what are they going to do about the tolls that have been illegal up to now? “

Paul Fenwick, Mersey Gateway Crossings Board chief executive, told the meeting he was not in a position to comment on the TPT ruling and what effect this new RUSCO might have on that.

However he said that the new order reflects a six-month review of the operation of the bridge.

Halton Council also issued a statement saying it made the decision to approve the new RUCSO based on the findings of March’s public consultation.