North Lincolnshire politicians react to Phil Hammond's announcement

COUNCIL chiefs and MPs are calling for urgent discussions after North Lincolnshire was told to choose between vital transport upgrades or a Humber Bridge toll cut.

Phillip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport, has given the region's leaders a difficult decision to make.

They can either choose to upgrade the A160, which would support a proposed South Bank super port and create thousands of jobs, or axe the bridge tolls.

Scunthorpe's Labour MP Nic Dakin said it was vital everyone involved met as soon as possible to make a decision about which project should be prioritised.

He said: "If the Secretary of State is asking the region to establish its own priorities, then it is good to hear it has money to address those areas.

"Both of the projects are key for both sides of the Humber region to prosper and go forward.

"It is now important for councillors, MPs, business owners, the chamber of commerce and all those involved to sit down and prioritise.

"On the other hand, if the projects are not driven forward and the Government does have the money to undertake them, it is very disappointing."

Despite the ultimatum, news that money is available for at least one of the projects was welcomed by Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole Andrew Percy.

"I think this is very good news," he said. "After decades of inaction the new Government is genuinely listening to the important issues," he said.

"It is vital new links and enterprising partnerships are formed in the area.

"And it is very important for the region everyone concerned gets together as soon as possible to decide what they would like to happen.

"Both aspects will benefit residents and the local economy immensely."

Labour councillor Mark Kirk, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, had mixed opinions about the announcement.

Councillor Kirk said: "I don't accept this. The two road schemes are priorities, but there is no guarantee they will go ahead," he said. "Under the new Government both are under review and therefore there is much uncertainty.

"So even if we drop the tolls campaign, it will make no difference to the two road schemes.

"The only way we will get prosperity on both banks is if we get the tolls abolished or reduced to a £1 toll.

"And remember, Conservative MPs on both banks have been campaigning against the tolls. Surely they are not going to accept this nonsense?"

Barton's Conservative MP Martin Vickers said the two issues were separate as far as he was concerned.

He said: "My job as constituency MP is to fight to get the maximum benefit for the region, and I will take every opportunity to lobby the minister about both of these issues.

"We're talking about two different things, one is capital expenditure. Strictly speaking, writing off the debt won't cost any money, but it will deny the ministry the future income from the tolls, so we're talking about lost revenue as opposed to capital.

"There's a very strong case which has been accepted by the department for the A160 and it's absolutely a priority at a national level that we improve access to our ports.

"The tolls argument has been developed over the years and there's clearly a case removing the tolls would benefit the sub-regional economy – and we want to do everything we can to boost the local economy."