THE fate of a new bridge across the Mersey is set to go under scrutiny.

A public inquiry starts today, Tuesday into the plans to build the Mersey Gateway, a new toll crossing that would also be applied to the existing Runcorn/Widnes bridge.

The issue of tolls has caused much concern for the impact on the roads of Warrington with traffic predictions showing that with a moderate level of toll would see vehicles travelling through the borough rising by four per cent to avoid paying the fee.

According to David Mowat, South Warrington Conservative MP hopeful, the tolls could even be set at a higher level.

He said: “We now have over 3,000 signatures from Warrington residents who are opposed to the toll and the plan to dump the extra traffic in Warrington. But this is even worse, the traffic modelling assumptions are very sensitive to the level of toll set. The fact that they are increasing to the toll in this way will push more traffic through Warrington. It is bureaucracy gone mad.”

Mr Mowat added that the extra income would help to pay for mitigating measures to tackle the increase in traffic through Warrington.

The public inquiry is being held at the Stobart Stadium in Widnes.