THE Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry could be moving a step closer to a toll-free future after the body running the crossings reaffirmed its ambition to scrap tolls.

Philip Robinson, chief officer for Tamar Crossings, made the declaration at the latest meeting of the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee in Bodmin.

Mr Robinson was responding to a question from Tamar Toll Action Group chairman Scott Slavin, who is campaigning for the tolls to be scrapped.

In a question to the joint committee members, Mr Slavin said data held by Tamar Crossings was vital to building the case for either cheaper tolls for local people or complete toll abolition.

He said the group had been seeking information on crossing use to establish the financial impact of tolls on people and businesses across the region and identify where the burden was felt most heavily. However, he said several requests had been rejected, including a Freedom of Information request for cost data by postal district.

Mr Slavin also questioned whether the joint committee remained committed to abolishing the tolls or had shifted towards supporting cheaper tolls for local residents.

In response, Mr Robinson said any existing data could be made available, but warned extracting large amounts of information would require significant resources.

“The challenge we have is the quantity of that data involved and the huge amount of work,” he said. “We simply don’t have sufficient resources to pull out the data. If the data can be made available, absolutely, but it is a matter of the format and the work involved.”

Meanwhile, Cornwall Council member Andrew Long, co-chair of the committee, made clear the long-term ambition remained a toll-free crossing.

“The Joint Committee’s stated aim has been, is now and, as far as I’m aware, will be in the future, a toll-free Tamar,” he said.

He said cheaper tolls were being viewed as a first step towards that goal.

“The short-term aim in order to get there is a stepped process,” he said. “The first step is to relieve the pressure and the burden on users who don’t have a choice of how to get across the Tamar, so cheaper tolls is the first step towards that.

“A potential removal of the toll booths, with a different crossing system, is another step towards it.”

Mr Robinson said the committee and the Toll Action Group were “completely aligned” in their aspiration.

He said he had recently visited the Humber Bridge and Tyne Tunnels to examine their use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems.

“I hear endless comments, complaints and suggestions around removing the toll booths,” he said. “I recently visited Humber, who’ve recently introduced a system of ANPR, and I’ve been up to Tyne Tunnels and they’ve had their system in place for over a year. I’m excited about the fact that this is something we must do and we can do.”

Mr Robinson also backed the importance of gathering evidence to support the case for change.

“I totally agree that data won’t drive change; it provides the evidence to support compelling arguments for change,” he said.