Tamar Bridge tolls petition given to government

A petition calling for planned Tamar bridge toll rises to be scrapped has been handed into the government.

South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray presented the petition, which she said had been signed by 6,300 people, in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Bridge crossing tolls are set to rise from £2.60 to £3 for cars and from £1.30 to £1.50 for the pre-paid electric tag system.

The increases require final approval from Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

Earlier this year, Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council - which both run the crossing through the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee - approved proposals for the fare increases.

Councillor Richard Williams-Pears, Cornwall Council's cabinet member for transport, said in February the increases were needed due to financial pressures resulting from continued reduced traffic flows post-Covid and high inflation levels since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Ms Murray - who has previously called for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap the tolls - said she and Johnny Mercer, MP for Plymouth Moor View, considered the tolls to be an "extra tax" on their constituents and local businesses.

Speaking in the Commons, she added other MPs in Cornwall and Devon have backed the petition along with the Tamar Tolls Action Group, Road Haulage Association and Councillors Sheila Lennox-Boyd and John Tivnan from Saltash and Torpoint Town Councils respectively.

Ms Murray said she and the other petition signatories would like the tolls kept at their current level.

She added they would like the Department for Transport to provide annual funding towards the bridge's maintenance costs.

"This will actually mean that the tolls can be frozen at the same level as they are now," the Conservative MP said.

Labour MP Luke Pollard, whose Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency is where the Devon side of the Torpoint Ferry is located, questioned the motivation of the petition.

He said he was sceptical that the government would give extra funding to help pay for the crossing and without financial support, he said it could lead to cuts in services.

Mr Pollard said: "If government wants to give us extra money that's great, but I doubt that's going to happen.

"So all this is looking busy ahead of a general election."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said changes to tolls are a matter for local authorities and any application for changes in fares will be considered by the Transport Secretary.

The spokesperson added plans are in place to create a new locally-led group to make sure people including local MPs have a chance to be involved with future plans for the crossings.

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