HC Deb 04 March 1999 vol 326 cc839-40W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many private toll roads there are; and if he will list them. [73752]

Ms Glenda Jackson

There are in the United Kingdom 3 public road crossings that are the subject of private finance concessions—at Dartford, Severn and Skye. There are also 8 privately owned tolled crossings linking public highways that were promoted by statute in the 18th and 19th centuries (and which must have their tolls approved by the Secretary of State). They are:

  • The Aldwark Bridge, Yorkshire
  • The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
  • The Dunham Bridge, Lincolnshire
  • The Rixton & Warburton Bridge, on the Manchester Ship Canal
  • The Shrewsbury (Kingsland) Bridge
  • The Swinford Bridge (Oxfordshire)
  • The Whitchurch Bridge (Oxfordshire)
  • The Whitney on Wye Bridge (Hereford & Worcester).

Also there are 2 toll roads that were established by Royal Charters of 1443 and 1619—respectively Roydon Road, Stanstead Abbots and College Road, Dulwich. They do not need to apply to the Secretary of State for approval of their tolls—and that is the case also where a toll is charged for the use of a private road. I do not have a complete list of private toll roads, but some examples are the roads of Kewstoke Woods, Weston-super-Mare, Kynance Cove, Cornwall, and Porlock, Devon.