Runcorn toll bridge 'will go ahead' says Chancellor

Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the Liverpool region's Mersey Gateway toll bridge project will go ahead.

But his indication that the £440m project will be saved from the axe has been condemned by campaigners, not least since the outcome of a Public Inquiry has yet to be published.

Plans for the tolled crossing between Runcorn and Widnes were frozen soon after the Conservative- Lib/Dem coalition government took power.

But the Tatton MP confirmed today (Sunday) that the six-lane toll bridge will escape the axe under the Spending Review to be announced on 20th October.

Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show Mr Osborne said: "The priority here has been to target waste and welfare, to invest in our health care, to give real increases in the school budget and to invest in the things that are going to make our economy strong.

"Projects like Crossrail, which will go ahead, projects like the Mersey Gateway, which is going to go ahead.

"Those things are actually going to get us out of this stronger and able to pay our way in the world."

The bridge project had been shelved in June, when the Department for Transport (DfT) said it could not guarantee its £83m support for the scheme until after the review.

Mr Osbone has now signalled that the Government element of the funding will be put in place.

Funding for the bridge, which will span 1km (0.6 miles) across the River Mersey, will largely be met by the private sector and road user charging.

But a spokesman for the Natioanal Alliance Against Tolls (NAAT) said the imposition of tolls at Runcorn would be an economic and social disaster for the region.

The NAAT spokesman said: "Halton will be the first local authority in Britain where you will not be able to move from one side to the other without paying a toll tax.

"A new bridge was originally intended to improve communications and remove any constraint on cross river travel but the council have completely lost the plot.

"Instead, the plan now is that, when the bridge opens, in there will actually be less traffic crossing the river - on both bridges.

"A combination of the reduced cross-river traffic and the tolls will be an economic and social disaster for the region and particularly for the people of Halton.

"Businesses will find that employees, suppliers and customers are reluctant to pay a toll to reach them.

"People on low incomes will think twice before paying a toll to visit family and friends."

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