Toll shock on Severn Bridge
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IN Hauliers who regularly use the Severn Bridge got an unwanted Christmas present last week in the shape of a 150% increase in toll fees.
Despite strong opposition, the appeals committee of the House of Lords has refused four South Wales councils leave to challenge a court of appeal judgment made last Oc tober. As a result Transport Secretary John Moore has been allowed to go ahead with the increase which will raise an extra £3.6 million a year.
From January 4, 1987, tolls for trucks will rise from 40p to £1, while those for light vans and cars will go up from 20p tc 40p.
The industry's two trade associations have already attacked the increase. The FTA says that while the Transport Secretary John Moore "may have got the go-ahead to impose these increases, a 150% jump is scandalous, especially as, since the public enquiry, an all-party select committee of MPs has said that tolls should be abolished.
The increase is just another tax on industry, and will do nothing to help the economy of South Wales for which the Severn Bridge is a vital link in the national road network."
The RHA remains "totally opposed to road tolls". According to a spokesman the toll rise "will cause hauliers' costs to increase even further."
• Commercial Motor's Latest valuable competition prize — a month's worth of Mobil Diesel Plus — has been wor by a Sussex haulier. Owner Driver M Hartnell of Westfield, near Hastings, will collect his prize in the new year. Congratulations Mr Hartnett.