FURIOUS motorists accused traffic cops of causing mayhem on the bridge this week - carrying out spot checks during the rush hour.

However, Halton's police traffic unit denied they were carrying out tax disc checks on Tuesday morning.

They said patrol officers were simply monitoring heavy traffic, held up following a jack-knifed lorry and the closure of the Greenway Road slip road.

Drivers complained after being held up in tailbacks stretching back several miles on Tuesday morning.

Many said they were half-an-hour late for work because of the gridlock.

One man said: "It is absolutely crazy. I'm all for the police doing their job, but checking tax discs at this time of the morning is madness."

Sergeant Yvonne Williams, of Halton traffic unit, said two vehicles were pulled over when police noticed their tax discs had expired.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.