They were removed 14 years ago, but now road tolls could return to Scotland’s bridges and tunnels in an attempt to cut car use.

The newspaper The Courier reports that the option has been included in plans being drawn up as part of efforts to reach emissions targets.

It quotes the Sunday Times as saying ministers in the SNP-Green government regard the return of tolls as “inevitable”.

Bridge tolls were removed from the Skye Bridge in 2004 and the Erskine Bridge in 2006, with the Forth and Tay bridge charged axed when the SNP delivered on its manifesto promise after coming to power at Holyrood in 2007.

According to The Sunday Times, a Transport Scotland “route map” suggests that public opinion has shifted since the 2000s, with research showing that “in 2021 more people support than oppose road pricing as a concept, with a majority of people agreeing that road pricing would reduce congestion and pollution”.

(Picture – Yay Images)