Motorists fined £1m in first month after Mersey Gateway toll bridge opens Motorists using Britain’s newest bridge have been hit with fines totaling £1m in the first month after it opened. The […]

Motorists using Britain’s newest bridge have been hit with fines totaling £1m in the first month after it opened.

The £600m Mersey Gateway Bridge across the River Mersey between Widnes and Runcorn took 20 years to plan and more than 1,200 days to build.

Drivers have made 2.1m journeys across the river since the toll bridge opened on 14 October. The toll is £2 per crossing.

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For anyone that does receive a PCN, our advice is to deal with it as quickly as possible as you get a 50 per cent discount – reducing the charge to £20 plus the original toll fee – if you pay within 14 days. Anthony Alicastro, the chief executive of Emovis

But a lack of toll booths has left many confused about how to pay, with the operator issuing £20 penalty charge notices on around 50,000 occasions in the first month – a total of £1m.

Those who have raised concerns include retired accountant Ian Taylor, from Penrhyn Bay, North Wales, who was hit by two fines after making a return journey across the bridge just days after it opened.

“When I crossed the bridge, I saw a large sign about the toll but could not see any details on how to pay,” he told the Daily Post.

The bridge will carry 27 million people every year

The bridge, the biggest English infrastructure project outside London, is set to carry 27 million people every year. It will cost £1.8bn over its lifetime.

Drivers have to pay online or over the phone before or after crossing the bridge, which is fitted with number plate recognition technology.

Anyone who isn’t registered and fails to pay either in advance or by 11.59pm the day after they cross will receive a penalty charge notice in the post.

Motorists can appeal the decision. If the fine goes unpaid after 14 days, it goes up to £40. If the rate of fines continued, the bridge’s construction would be paid for in 50 years.

Merseyflow, which operates the toll, say 97 per cent of drivers are registered or have paid on time. They say the charging system has been extensively publicised.

‘Our advice is to deal with it as quickly as possible’

David Parr, chief executive of Halton Borough Council and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “The new Mersey Gateway Bridge has been really popular.

”More than two million vehicles have used the bridge in total, averaging 72,000 vehicles every weekday, which is over and above what we expected, and shows that people are enjoying the quicker, easier and more reliable journeys the bridge brings.”

Anthony Alicastro, the chief executive of Emovis, which runs the Merseyflow operation, has advised motorists to register for using the bridge, which means they can get discounts and cheaper journeys.

He said: “For anyone that does receive a PCN, our advice is to deal with it as quickly as possible as you get a 50 per cent discount – reducing the charge to £20 plus the original toll fee – if you pay within 14 days. The PCN also contains details of how you can challenge the payment if you feel it has been sent in error.”