The government have rejected a plea to remove the tolls on the Mersey Gateway bridge during the Coronavirus crisis.
The move came as the Mersey Tunnels had their tolls removed in order to reduce costs to key workers during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Halton Council last week asked the government to remove the fee associated with crossing the Mersey Gateway bridge.
Halton council leader, Rob Polhill, said “We believe this compromises our efforts locally to meet the challenges presented by COVID-19.
“We also believe it penalises the very people we are relying on to keep us all safe – our NHS staff, our key workers and our volunteers, who will now be faced with ongoing payments and the requirement to pay their tolls/charge, thereby distracting them from their primary role which is to save lives.
“We will continue to press government to do the right thing – which is to allow the council to suspend tolls/charges on Mersey Gateway for NHS workers, key workers and our volunteers.”
The government have to approve any removal of tolls as the bridge is funded by the Department for Transport and they will have to foot the bill if any toll costs are removed.
The department for transport have not released any reason for the rejection of the request.