A YEAR before I retired in 2013 I decided to buy a medium sized camper van as I knew that holidays abroad were a thing of the past and it would give me the opportunity to explore the UK.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this ever since and am 68 now.

As the new Mersey Gateway is nearing completion I went to register my camper van.

I use it all year round and it is always taxed and insured.

To my amazement and disgust I was informed that my camper van could not be registered for a local pass and that I would have to pay £6.50 each way if I wanted to cross the bridge, a total of £13 per trip.

If you take into consideration the road tax of £240 I pay each year that equates to an average of £18 per trip.

I travel across the Mersey from Runcorn at least three times a week, so that means I would be incurring an additional £54 charge per week for travelling less than 10 miles within the same borough of Halton.

I would love to have a pension that reflects those additional amounts.

For the past three years we have had to endure countless road closures and diversions and I have not complained once, even though it has added extra mileage to my camper van and I have been using more fuel getting from A to B.

I find it bizarre that Prime Minister Theresa May can hand out £1 billion to the DUP when the Government has no money for our public sector.

It seems like she doesn’t like her own people.

That money could have funded the bridge for 20 years.

It has come to my attention that Welsh tolls across the River Severn are being abolished.

I would also like to know how many bridges across the River Thames are tolled.

Is this another north-south divide?

Anyone who lives in Halton should not be forced to pay to cross the Mersey regardless of the vehicle they drive.

Nigel Moore

Palacefields

Runcorn