CAMPAIGNERS calling for Mersey Tunnel tolls to be scrapped have attacked "the vast profits" they claim are being made from the levy.

According to the group 'Scrap Mersey Tolls', when Liverpool City Region Combined Authority met last Friday to agree their annual budget, figures in its annual report showed the income was nearly £27m more than the expenditure.

A spokesperson for the campaigners said: "The summary for the authority's budget shows that they expect to receive £45,472,000 from Tunnels Tolls income, and the budget appendix shows that they expect to spend £18,669,000 on the Tunnels.

"It is not clear what all the £18,669,000 is spent on as the figures shown do not add up."

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority - which operates the tunnels - said in a statement that "the tunnel does not make a profit – the surplus from tolls is spent on local transport schemes in areas such as Active Travel, Concessionary Travel, Bus, Rail and the Mersey Ferries."

But John McGoldrick, from campaign group, Scrap Mersey Tolls, disagrees. He told the Globe: "It has been the case for a very long time that the Tunnel authorities try and mask the profits that they are making.

"As recently as a year ago they said: 'Despite what people say on social media, tunnels do not make profit'.

"What has changed is the scale of the profits, with over half of the Tunnels tolls now being used to fund other activities.

"These non-Tunnels activities should be financed from taxes and not by using drivers as cash cows to finance whatever the authority turns its mind to.

"Tolls are an unfair burden that divides the region and deters business. The Government should scrap the tolls or at least stop the authority from making these obscene profits from drivers."

A Liverpool City Region Combined Authority spokesperson told the Globe: "The Mersey Tunnels were built as a joint venture by local authorities and, as a result, their upkeep, maintenance and operation remains outside of the national highway network and is dependent on tolls.

“The cost of constructing the tunnels has not yet been paid off and that will not be the case for decades.

"Each year millions are spent on operating and maintenance, with these costs rising as the tunnels age - the Queensway will celebrate its 90th birthday later this year, whilst the Kingsway has been in operation for 53 years now. Both are major pieces of infrastructure that are vital for the city region’s economy and society as a whole.

“There is no national road tolling strategy and the UK Government has no plans to bring the Mersey Tunnels into the national road network.

"On this basis, unless another stream of funding can be identified to meet operational and maintenance costs, it is likely Tunnel tolls will remain in place.

“The tunnel does not make a profit – the surplus from tolls is spent on local transport schemes in areas such as Active Travel, Concessionary Travel, Bus, Rail and the Mersey Ferries.

“It is a positive benefit that the money raised locally through the tolls is spent here in the city region, unlike road tax and general taxation which goes into a central pot.

"The tolls are set below inflation and far lower than the £2.70 maximum charge authorised under the Tunnels Act. City region residents signed up to T-FLOW will also continue to pay the lowest prices.

"The expenditure and income from the Mersey Tunnels is detailed annually in the Merseytravel Statement of Accounts, which are published on the Combined Authority website.”