Cheshire MP's anger at Mersey Tunnel toll price hike

Residents will be able to pay a cheaper toll across the Mersey Tunnel, but other drivers will pay more

Changes to Mersey Tunnel tolls which will see a price hike for non-residents will "set communities against one another", an MP has warned.

The fee for drivers from outside the Liverpool city region will rise from £1.20 to £1.80 from April but will drop to £1 for residents with a Fast Tag.

Cheshire MP Justin Madders has started a petition against the plan.

However, mayor Steve Rotheram said he was "not willing" to "subsidise" prices for people outside the region.

The reduced £1 toll will be available to all residents of Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton, and Wirral if they register for the Fast Tag.

Motorists from other areas will pay the higher price, including residents of the neighbouring borough of Cheshire West & Chester, which includes Mr Madders' constituency.

Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Justin Madders said some of his own constituents will be affected

In a letter to Mr Rotheram, the Ellesmere Port and Neston MP said many drivers would be "detrimentally affected", despite "playing an important role in the Mersey economy".

His petition claims the plan will "impact on people's jobs, incomes and set communities against one another".

In response Mr Rotheram said to extend the discount scheme without receiving any additional funding would "require the hardest-hit councils in the country to subsidise a discount for residents outside our administrative boundaries".

He said he was "not willing to do that", but was "open to the potential" of councils outside the region funding discount systems of their own.