Scooter rider fined for using ‘free’ crossing

A SCOOTER rider has been issued with a fine for using the Mersey Gateway Bridge which is free for motorcyclists.

Curt Spittle, from Runcorn, is one of thousands of riders who use the the crossing between Runcorn and Widnes in Halton on a weekly basis.

The chef, who works in Deeside, was taking his GP125 Lambretta for a leisurely ride unaware his movements would be subject to an unexpected fine.

He said: “When I got the letter I thought it was a joke, but then I was thinking have they changed the rules?”

Tolls operator Merseyflow state that motorbikes are exempt from paying the toll charges for the Mersey Gateway Bridge.

Bikers do not need to open an account either as motorbikes can travel for free.

“I wasn’t surprised at all to be honest when I got the letter due to all the problems people have been having with these fines,” said Curt.

“I thought it was so stupid of them.”

It was revealed this month that motorists using the bridge have paid up to £3.4m in fines from January to March this year.

Merseyflow say that ‘on time’ payment rate for journeys over the toll bridge has reached a new record high of 97% for the first quarter of the year, rising by 1% from the last three months of 2018.

Earlier this year, a Freedom Of Information (FoI) request to Halton Borough Council shown that debt enforcers visited the homes of 1,366 drivers in total following their journey over the crossing.

Curt was ready to pay the £20 fine when he received another letter from Merseyflow.

Since speaking to Curt, a new letter was sent out from Merseyflow apologising for the error.

A spokesperson for Merseyflow said: “We’re very sorry about this – it was a simple case of human error.

“As soon as we spotted the error we wrote to the customer to apologise, confirmed that the PCN has been cancelled and that he doesn’t owe anything.

“Since the bridge opened we have had over 36 million crossings and we have thousands of motorbikes using the route every week to access quicker, easier and more reliable journeys across the river in Halton.

“We can confirm it is free for motorbikes to cross the Mersey Gateway Bridge and errors like this are unfortunate but extremely rare.”

Trying to get in touch with Merseyflow was another problem for Curt.

He said: “The number that is on their website is just an automated line, you can’t even speaking to anyone.

“Their mistakes seem to be happening too often.

“I think something needs to be done about it.”

The number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) being issued by Merseyflow has fallen as payments on time have increased.

For instance, the number of PCNs issued in October, November and December stood at 80,000, 60,000, and 61,000 respectively.

It translated to almost £2.5m being handed out in fines over the three months.