About 200 people marched across Tamar Bridge on Saturday, starting from Alexandra Square in Saltash to protest higher toll charges. The march was organised by the Tamar Toll Action Group as pressure continues over what regular users pay to cross between Devon and Cornwall.
Scott Slavin said the protest was meant to show a "strength in numbers" to MPs and to deliver a message to government that people want change. The group is campaigning for lower tolls and long-term government funding, while Saltash residents say the charges fall on people who use the crossing repeatedly.
Jacqueline Jones on Tamar Bridge
Jacqueline Jones said she travels to hospital quite regularly and has to pay each time she crosses. Allison Hair said paying to go over the bridge was "not normal", "morally wrong" and left her "sick of it." Jean Wengradt said there should not be a charge to cross the bridge.
Charges after June
The protest followed two changes in the toll debate. In June, councillors rejected plans to increase monthly administration fees for regular users from 80p to £2. Then in 2025, the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee raised standard charges from £2.60 to £3.00.
Slavin said Saltash's postal district is paying over £2m a year in tolls and described that as an enormous sum of money out of the raw economy of a small Cornish town. He also said it was more than twice the amount paid by the adjacent entire city of Plymouth.
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport said decisions on tolls are taken by the Tamar Crossings Joint Committee, and said it would continue to work with the committee on any proposals to help make the crossings better for everyone. The protest put the charge dispute back in front of the people who use the bridge most often, but it did not produce any change to the tolls on Saturday.
