A man from Wallasey says drivers are being forced to pay more when driving through Mersey Tunnels due to the no change policy.

The policy, which came into place during the Coronavirus pandemic, was introduced to help stop the risk of the virus spreading.

David Smith says he was ‘startled’ when he dropped a £2 coin into the basket for the payment toll to see it had only been registered as £1 during his trip to Liverpool from Wallasey last week.

David, who used to run facility management services with coin accepters and is now retired, said: “I dropped a £2 coin into the basket for basket of the £1.80 toll and it registered as £1 requiring me to drop a further coin and paying £3.

“This seems like intentionally wrong programming of the basket counting mechanism.

“I don’t understand why there are big signs to announce that no change will be given at staffed lanes?

“In the same way as the customer puts their coins into a bucket presented by the attendant so change could surely be returned?

“It made me wonder if it actually is to protect people or if it’s another big business cashing in on Covid because it although it doesn’t seem like a lot of money from one individual it adds up when you multiply it by the number of people who use the tunnels every day.”

Merseytravel explained to the Globe that incorrect change can be rectified by one of the tunnels team if needed.

A spokesperson from Merseytravel said: “We are sorry to hear about this customer’s experience whilst making payment at Mersey Tunnels but can assure you the situation described would be a very rare one.

“In each of our toll lanes there is a help button which can be used to alert staff to any issues around payment and we would encourage customers to make use of this facility should it be needed.

“If a coin was incorrectly identified by the automated machine this could be immediately rectified by one of the tunnels team.

“The decision to not provide change to Mersey Tunnels customers was taken at the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic to minimise physical contact.

“We believe this remains the right thing to do and work to communicate this across our website, social media and around our toll plaza.

“Cash accounts for only around 15% of all toll payments with the rest being made by contactless or other card payments as well as electronically via FastTag, which we would encourage customers to use as the quickest and most convenient method of making payment at the Mersey Tunnels with Liverpool City Region residents being eligible for a special £1 per trip rate.”