CONTINUING tolls on the Severn Bridges once they pass back into public ownership would be unlawful, a Ukip Gwent AM has claimed.

Last week the UK government announced a consultation into slashing tolls on the crossings to £3 for cars, vans and small buses and £10 for lorries and coaches.

But, speaking in the Senedd yesterday South Wales East AM Mark Reckless said he believed continuing the tolls would be against the law and called for legal action to be taken.

“The Severn Bridges Act 1992 is very, very clear, in primary legislation, that the UK secretary of state may only charge a toll until a certain sum has been raised, which UK ministers state to be approximately £80 million,” he said.

“With the reduced toll this would be raised by the end of 2019. After that, the continuation of tolling is unlawful on that primary legislation.”

Wales’ infrastructure and economy secretary Ken Skates replied the Welsh Government’s position remained that charges on the bridges should be abolished altogether, calling them “a tax on Welsh businesses and a barrier to investment”.

“It’s my view that the Welsh taxpayer, and, indeed, other taxpayers, have already paid off that debt through considerable sums in general taxation over many years,” he said.

Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay said the UK government’s plans represented “an improvement on the situation we had before”.