Wirral Council united in Mersey tolls battle

Apr 22 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

Mersey tunnels

WIRRAL Council last night agreed on an all-party amendment that will see councillors working together to scrap the Mersey Tunnel tolls.

In a full meeting of the council, Labour and the Liberal-Democrats agreed to move a notice put forward by the Conservatives as long as it was made a condition that tax payers, who may not use the tunnels, do not bear the brunt of costs.

Conservative councillor Chris Blakeley, one of the signatories of the original notice, said: “Making it free to use the tunnels may be pie in the sky at this stage, but discounts for regular users between Liverpool and Wirral, I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask.”

Labour leader Cllr Steve Foulkes said: “We’re not trying to kid people this will be easy, but we are prepared to take the issue to the next stage.”

Lib-Dem Cllr Dave Mitchell said: “If the Government is prepar- ed to pay, then we sup- port it 100% – we are not going to ask local residents to do so.”