A 'DISTRESSED' resident came home from work to find hundreds of Mersey Gateway toll bridge fines posted through his door totalling to more than £20,000.
Craig Pedder, from Runcorn, was stunned to see the mass of 138 envelopes that had been posted all together on January 26.
Each demanding payments for crossing the Mersey Gateway toll bridge - the earliest of which dated back to January 2024, he told.
"My four-year-old daughter was highly amused by the number of letters on the floor when we came home," Mr Pedder said. "Despite having a valid residents pass for my vehicle.
"These letters demand payments, with each notice claiming a balance of £147 - a grand total of £20,286."
Mr Pedder remarked what an 'overwhelming experience' it was to receive the barrage of letters all on the same day from the debt enforcement agency, adding that opening each envelope one-by-one became 'sickening and stressful'.
"As a registered resident, I should not have been charged for these crossings," he said.
Residents of Halton can apply for the Local User Discount Scheme (LUDS) Merseyflow provide, which enables commuters to make trips across the toll bridge at no extra charge after paying a £12 annual administration fee.
After receiving the fines, Craig took matters into his own hands and went to Merseyflow’s walk-in centre to discuss the issue further, where he said it was revealed that the vehicle in question was no longer owned by him.
"Despite this, Mersey Flow informed me they cannot resolve the issue. I was advised to download forms from the government website to submit to the Traffic Enforcement Centre, but I have not yet received a reply.
"I am now beyond stressed and constantly on edge whenever a car parks outside my house or there is a knock at the door. I have received over 500 text messages and another 135 letters from a debt collection agency."
In response to this incident, a representative for Mersey Flow explained that the Penalty Charge Notices were 'received between December 2023 through to November 2024'.
This was after the resident's Local User Discount Scheme (LUDS) plan expired in December 2023.
"When plans are not renewed customers are advised that their plans will be downgraded to a pre-pay plan as per the Local User Discount Scheme’s terms and conditions and that as such, they are liable to pay for their crossings."
They continued: "Mr Pedder changed the vehicle held on Merseyflow’s system in June 2024 and added his current vehicle, however documents were not provided to prove eligibility so the Local User Discount Scheme plan was deactivated in August 2024 and again Mr Pedder was informed he would be required to pay for his crossings."
Merseyflow confirmed that the resident's plan was reactivated back in April 2025 but PCN's were still outstanding and relevant documentation was required to support evidence his previous vehicle had been sold.
"It is the owner’s responsibility to inform the DVLA immediately if they sell, transfer, or part-exchange a vehicle to ensure you are no longer liable for tax or fines, failure to notify the DVLA can result in a fine of up to £1,000," a spokesperson said.
No further contact was made until January 29, when Mr Pedder entered the Merseyflow walk-in centre, the toll company stated and was told that he needed to submit evidence that he is no longer the registered keeper of the vehicle.
However, the PCN's were at enforcement stage by this point, Merseyflow said, and ‘forms had not yet been received’.
In a final word and warning to residents, a spokesperson for Merseyflow said: "Our message to anyone who gets a PCN is, please don’t ignore it. You should take action as soon as possible because if the debt is passed on to an enforcement agent, then it will increase significantly.
"Thousands of eligible Halton residents have made the switch to the Local User Discount Scheme’s auto-renew option setting up direct debit and auto-renewal.
"We are urging all eligible Halton residents to make the switch to paying by direct debit and choose to auto-renew their annual Local User Discount Scheme plan.
"The system makes it easier for Halton residents to renew their LUDS plan, but residents need to update their accounts to benefit from the change."
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