Bridge defends steep rise in tolls

Bridge bosses have defended a steep rise in tolls amid criticism from some motorists.

Car drivers will be asked to pay 40% more to cross Dunham Bridge, over the River Trent between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, with the price going up from 50p to 70p on Thursday, while vans will be charged £1.50, up from £1.

Carl Lane, a cable jointer, described the increase as "scandalous", adding: "What's inflation at the minute? It shouldn't be allowed."

But the Dunham Bridge Company said it had to pay for maintenance work, including repairs to a bridge pier, along with a significant rise in staffing costs.

Lorries and buses face a doubling of fees from £2 to £4 for the crossing, which is about 11 miles (18km) west of Lincoln.

It is the first increase since 2023, when a crossing for cars rose from 40p to 50p.

Stephen Betteridge, a director at the bridge company, said: "No company likes to upset its customers.

"Whenever we do have a toll rise, we always make sure that our case is justifiable and reasonable.

"When the company does go for an increase, we have to apply to the government for permission to do that."

He said the company received no help with bridge maintenance. Repairs to the pier would cost £75,000, while resurfacing would run to £1m "in the next year or so".

Betteridge added: "Employment costs have increased and other associated costs to ourselves have gone up by a greater degree than we anticipated."

At a tea room near the bridge, Pauline Mitchell said a 40% rise was "a lot more than inflation".

Fellow customer Syliva Staton, a regular bridge user, said her pre-paid card would not "last as long now".

She added: "If it's going up, it's going up. We can't do anything about it, can we?"

But at The Friendship Inn in Laughterton, a short drive from the bridge, customer Chris Smith said businesses were "really struggling" because the government had put up costs such as National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

"I can understand why the business is doing it," he said.

"At the end of the day, everybody's got to pay it and it's still cheaper than driving all the way around."

The new chancellor, John Healey, has said he is "concerned about the cost of business" and "it will be a driving concern" to raise levels of investment, innovation and profit.

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