Warburton toll bridge: MPs demand toll bridge is council run

Warrington's MPs have called for a private toll bridge to be taken into public ownership and made free to use amid a proposed hike in charges.

Peel Ports owns Warburton Toll Bridge across the Manchester Ship Canal and plans to raise the fee from 12p to £1.

Conservative Andy Carter and Labour's Charlotte Nichols both said the bridge should be run by local authorities "in the public interest".

But Peel said there was "no appetite" from councils to take on the bridge.

A spokesman for the company said the "most favoured alternative" to its plan to raise the tolls was for local councils and the government to step in.

"However, feedback from the relevant parties suggests there is no appetite to take responsibility for the bridge and remove the toll charges", they added.

Peel's request to raise the tolls would trigger a Parliamentary process, but both MPs indicated they would oppose it.

Ms Nichols, who represents Warrington North, said the company should "take its responsibility seriously" by paying to modernise the bridge and then selling it to Warrington and Trafford councils.

That way it could be operated "in the public interest rather than as a money-making exercise", she said.

Mr Carter, member for Warrington South, said the system that allowed Peel to control the ship canal's bridges was "archaic", and he would urge the government to consider taking all its crossings into public control.

"I think actually the highways should be controlled by the local authorities and there should be free access across those bridges", he added.

The bridge crosses the boundary between Warrington and Trafford Councils.

Warrington Borough Council's chief executive Steven Broomhead said the authority was not in a position to consider taking over any of Peel's infrastructure assets.

"They are a large company and the council expects them to maintain their assets in order to benefit the public of Warrington", he added.

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