Mersey Tunnel tolls protest
Protesters gathered at a bridge overlooking the entrance to the Kingsway tunnel this morning to demonstrate against the tolls.
UKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall lead this morning’s protests calling the £1.70 tunnel charge a ‘toll on motorists’
He argues the issue has become even more contentious this year with proposals to use money raised by the tolls to finance an HS2 to Liverpool.
“It is absolutely outrageous to use the money extorted from motorists who have no choice but to use the Mersey tunnels.
“The think tank ResPublica has thrown up this idea and highlighted the fact that the tunnels make a surplus revenue of between £12m - £14m a year. What a slap in the face to the users.
‘It is already bad enough that millions of the revenue already goes to subside Merseytravel,”
John McGoldrick is from the Mersey Tunnel users group and says they're not getting much support from parties outside of UKIP;
''The local parties aren't interested in the tolls or they have plans on how to spend them. The other week the Liverpool City region wanted to look at selling the profit to help pay for HS2''
It was decided by the Merseytravel committee last month that Tunnel tolls won’t be going up this year; they’ll remain at £1.70. The tunnels will also be free on Christmas day and emergency vehicles won’t be charged.