HUMBER Bridge representatives are to request a meeting with Geoff Hoon to talk about the opposition to bridge tolls and review the debt repayment plan.

The board has agreed not to raise the tolls until April next year in the face of record-breaking opposition from the public - thanks to the Telegraph's A Toll Too Far campaign.

The Telegraph, along with its sister titles the Grimsby Telegraph and Hull Daily Mail, wants the tolls to be abolished or reduced to £1 per crossing.

Bridge board chairman David Gemmell said he hoped the DfT would be open to fresh discussion on the issues surrounding the bridge tolls.

He said: "I never expect anything. I would like to think we can get a deal where it is feasible to pay the debt.

"If they are minded to do something about reducing the debt then we would be delighted with that.

"I would like to think it is possible but it is not something they have ever been disposed to in the past."

The Department for Transport said it would not comment on the Bridge Board's views.

A spokesman said setting tolls was a matter for the bridge board and that a decision on whether to hold a public inquiry would be made by Mr Hoon in due course.

Alongside calls to block this planned rise in the Humber Bridge tolls, campaigners have also demanded the tolls be scrapped or reduced to £1.

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