THE unique qualities of the £431 million Mersey Gateway will win the project the go-ahead, Halton Council has declared.

Councillors are confident the scheme will be approved by the coalition Government after it was delayed for an autumn spending review.

David Parr, chief executive, said a meeting with senior civil servants had been positive.

He said: “They gave us no indication to believe we should be worried about the future of Mersey Gateway.

“They recognise the uniqueness of the scheme.

“It is a bridge to prosperity. Almost 80 per cent of funding comes from the private sector.

“The project is a unique opportunity for the Government to deliver hundreds of millions of pounds worth of private sector investment and regeneration through a relatively modest invesment from the public purse.”

The Mersey Gateway executive board pleged to continue developing the case and continue discussing funding with the Department of Transport.

Council Leader, Clr Rob Polhill, said: “We are confident that after looking at the value for money the project delivers and the benefits it will bring to Halton and the wider region, the Government will give us the green light.”

In a reply to Halton MP Derek Twigg in the House of Commons, Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, said: “Let us be clear about the Mersey Gateway project. All we have done is suspend the progress of the scheme until after the current spending review is completed.

“We believe it would be wrong to encourage or allow local authorities to incur signficant additional expenditure on a large number of projects when some of them clearly may not be able to proceed on the original timetable.”