Humber Bridge toll 'becomes UK's most expensive'

A single crossing in a car has gone up from £2.70 to £3.00

Tolls on the Humber Bridge have become the most expensive in the UK, it is claimed, after a new rise.

A single crossing by car went up from £2.70 to £3.00 at midnight. The Severn Bridge charges £5.70 but that allows drivers to cross both ways.

Motorists were stockpiling tickets at the lower price in advance of the rise, the Humber Bridge board said.

The government approved the toll increase, proposed by the bridge board as it attempts to repay £330m of debt.

The bridge was originally financed with a £150m government loan, which rose to £330m because of interest.

A treasury review into the wider economic impact of the tolls is due in November.

Board chairman David Gemmell said of the increase: "We're very sorry this has to happen but the problem is we have a statutory duty to maintain and run the bridge, to pay the interest and pay the capital.

"The only way we can do that is by getting income in and our only income is through tolls."