Mersey Gateway toll will 'improve air quality'

Introducing tolls on the Mersey Gateway Bridge will help to improve air quality in Liverpool, it has been claimed.

A public inquiry in Widnes heard yesterday that unless something is done, levels of CO2 and nitrogen oxide will increase over the next 20 years, the Liverpool Daily Post reports.

Air quality expert Yvonne Brown commented: "The no toll option is the only one calculated to lead to increased CO2 emissions.

"A similar pattern is shown for the regional emissions of NO and PM10 (particle pollutants)."

Ms Brown said the Mersey Gateway Project could lead to significant improvements in air quality around the Silver Jubilee Bridge in Widnes and Runcorn.

Figures released by the Liberal Democrats last week revealed that 24,000 Britons die every year as a result of air pollution.

The party's shadow climate and energy change secretary Simon Hughes said that meeting European air quality targets is essential for the UK.