Warburton Toll Bridge: Plans to raise charge from 12p to £1 progress

Peel Ports said most of the 72 responses to a consultation "were opposed to the increase of the toll charge"

Plans to increase the cost of travelling over a toll bridge between Cheshire and Greater Manchester have moved forward.

Owner Peel Ports wants to increase the cost of using the Warburton bridge from 12p to £1 to pay for improvement works.

A Transport and Works Act order has now been submitted to the government after a local consultation.

Warrington Council said it "strongly opposes" the plans, which would have a "real financial impact on motorists".

The bridge crosses the Manchester Ship Canal and joins the Warrington and Trafford council areas.

According to the document submitted by Peel Ports, both councils were in "broad agreement" about proposed improvements, but have disagreed about the level of the toll increase and the extent of discounts available to local users.

It also said both councils "cannot afford to take on the responsibility of the bridge".

Peel Ports said there were 72 responses from the public and three from local businesses or societies to the consultation and that "most people were opposed to the increase of the toll charge".

The document asks for permission to increase the one-way trip "to a maximum of £1", but to also allow tolls to increase over time at a maximum of 1% below inflation.

The firm said the toll would "not automatically be set at £1 - or indeed any other value - but would be set each year by the new bridge company at an appropriate level".

Warburton Toll Bridge

• The only route across the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal between the M6 and M60

• Links the villages of Rixton in Warrington, Cheshire to the north, with Warburton in Trafford, Greater Manchester to the south

• Created after the passing of the Rixton and Warburton Toll Bridge Act 1863, which gave the Manchester Ship Canal Company the right to build the bridge and then charge those crossing it

• Originally cost one person on horseback or in a cart 1p (the equivalent of 18p today) to cross

Warrington's MPs, Labour's Charlotte Nichols and Conservative Andy Carter, have both previously called for the bridge to be run by local authorities.

"Having lobbied Peel Ports against an increase, I will formally object to this order and will of course oppose any regulation that the government brings forward in parliament to implement one," Ms Nichols, the MP for Warrington North, said.

A spokesman for Peel Ports said as the "business case shows, 12p per crossing is clearly insufficient".

"The bridge requires modernisation and an appropriate level of toll to ensure it has a sustainable future."

Hans Mundry, Warrington Borough Council's cabinet member for highways, said the authority continued to "strongly oppose" the plans for the rise.

"This proposed increase is being imposed on our communities against their will - and it is unacceptable that motorists should have to bear the brunt of costs to upgrade the bridge," he said.

A Trafford Council spokeswoman said while the authority "recognises that there may be benefits in modernising the current toll regime", it was "concerned to ensure that any changes represent a fair deal for the local community".

"We therefore will be making representations on the order in due course," she said.