COUNCILLORS will be asked to approve another proposed hike in tunnel tolls when Merseytravel's board meets this afternoon.

Merseytravel is recommending the toll should increase by 10p - raising the cost of a one-way trip to £1.80. Drivers using Fast Tag payment will see the cost frozen at £1.40.

As the tunnels are now "assets" of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, of which Wirral Council's Labour leader Cllr Phil Davies is chairman, it will be up to them to consider the recommendation and take a final decision on the increase tomorrow, Friday.

Cllr Davies said: "I'm not happy with the recommendation, but I'm pleased that they have decided to freeze Fast Tag – I think that is a good move for people who use the tunnel on a regular basis. That needs to be promoted more than it has been in the past.

"But I’m not happy with the 10p increase because the tunnels are used disproportionately by Wirral residents.

"And at a time when people are struggling with bills and the cost of living, I don’t think it’s the right time to increase the cost of going through the tunnel which lots of people from Wirral have to go through to get to work or to study.”

Leader of Wirral Conservative group Cllr Jeff Green said: "Like most Wirral drivers who use the tunnels, I am appalled.

"Labour-controlled Merseytravel seem to see Wirral people as a perpetual cash cow to be taxed and charged as they please.

"It's yet another blow to families and businesses in the borough, and just at a time when the economy is starting to pick up.

"This will be a real test for Phil Davies as leader of the combined authority to to see whether his influence can stop them approving this disgraceful increase, which he will know will be to the great disadvantage of the borough's families and businesses."

John McGoldrick, secretary of Mersey Tunnel Users' Association, told the Globe: "Users of the tunnels are faced with a toll increase for the third year in a row and as usual there is misinformation from Merseytravel to try and fool people into believing that all the tolls are spent on Tunnel works and that increases are needed for safety and other essential work.

"We have contacted the councillors asking them not to vote for any further increase in the tolls and supplying them with what we believe are the correct facts about the tolls and the financing of the Tunnels. It seems that this is all a waste of time."

"The Merseyside politicians are hell-bent on creating a tolls barrier all the way from Liverpool to Warrington.

"This will hurt people who have family or friends on the other side of the barrier. It will also hit businesses and thus have a negative impact on jobs and wages.

"The Merseyside politicians obviously are not working for the benefit of the people and we hope that at the elections in May the people will shun the parties with policies that include tolling on the Tunnels and at Runcorn."

Merseytravel said that linking the tolls to inflation through the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004 "keeps them broadly in line with other cross river travel costs such as bus and rail fares"

It says this ensures "there are always sufficient funds available for the maintenance and operation of the tunnels, now and in the future, as well as for paying off historic debt."

The authority's chief executive David Brown said: "Though the toll-setting process is different this year with the Combined Authority having the final say, the considerations are the same.

"Members have to weigh up a number of factors – the need for continued investment in the tunnels themselves as an aging but key strategic highway for the city region, the impact on tunnel users and the role of surplus funding.

"This is ringfenced for investment in key transport infrastructure projects for use across the Liverpool City Region – a valuable and sustained source of revenue.”

A report to the committee states that as the "authorised" toll of £1.90 was triggered by a small rise in current year inflation, it would be disproportionate to set it at that level for 2015/16.

This afternoon's meeting starts at 2.30pm.