Councillors to discuss Tamar bridge and ferry tag increase

Image source, bbc

Image caption, The toll crossings were last increased in 2010, while the tag system came in during 2007

Drivers using tags to cross the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferries linking Devon and Cornwall, may have to pay an extra 80p a month from April.

The measure will raise more than 拢500,000, Cornwall Council has revealed.

The bridge and ferry together collect more than 拢9m in tolls each year.

Tolls at the two crossings were last increased in March 2010, with the Tamar Tag electronic payment scheme being introduced in 2007.

The current toll is 拢1.50 for cars, or 75 pence for tag users, and the new fee could raise an extra 拢506,000 a year.

The findings will be discussed by Cornwall Council next week.

A spokesperson for the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint ferry joint committee said it was the second largest such system in the UK (after Dartford) with some 95,000 tags issued against 65,000 accounts.

The committee is looking at introducing the new fee from April 2014.

The authority has pledged that if the tag levy is approved crossing charges will remain fixed for the next three years.