THE dream for thousands of people awaiting hospital treatment to be able to travel across the Humber Bridge for free has moved within touching distance.
The Humber Bridge Bill has cleared its final House of Commons hurdle and is now waiting for Royal Assent.
It will give control of the bridge to a new board of councillors, who can then allow dispensations from the toll.
The free crossings will apply to all patients who have to travel to Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital for treatments which are not available in Grimsby – including thousands of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Journeys to the south bank will also be free if the patient cannot get the necessary care where they live.
Campaigners have lobbied for patients to be toll-exempt for years, and the four councils on the Humber have said it would be a priority for the board – which could be in place as early as April 1 next year. The Grimsby Telegraph, together with its sister newspapers in Hull and Scunthorpe, had campaigned for the toll to be scrapped or reduced to £1 since September 2008.
More than 14,000 readers backed the A Toll Too Far campaign, which also drew support from the region's MPs.
It led to a Government review, focusing on the economic impact of the tolls on businesses and residents.
The reduction in charges came after the Government agreed to write off £150 million of the bridge's outstanding debt in November 2011.
The four local authorities on either side of the bridge agreed to share responsibility for the remaining £182 million. Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers (Cons) said he was delighted to see the Bill complete its passage through Parliament.
He said: "After almost 30 years of campaigning on the issue of Humber Bridge tolls I'm delighted to have been the one to propose the final motions that saw the Humber Bridge Bill pass through its final stages in the Commons.
"The Bill gives legal authority to the new Bridge Board structure and its powers to set the level of tolls and the appropriate powers to collect them.
"I now urge them to make use of those powers as soon as possible to reduce the tolls for the hundreds of people who use the crossing to access medical treatment at hospitals on the north bank."
North East Lincolnshire Council leader Chris Shaw (Lab) also welcomed the news. He said: "It is great for the area and is something that is definitely needed. It just shows that when it comes to important issues we can always work together. I cannot praise the leaders of the other authorities enough for coming to this agreement."
A cancer patient, who asked not to be named, said: "Having to pay to journey such a distance for my chemotherapy is something I have always fought against.
"This is a great result for the area, and will undoubtedly help many people."
A change to the structure in the way the bridge is paid for has already seen the fee for cars fall from £3 to £1.50, resulting in a rise of more than 9 per cent in traffic using the bridge.
The new bridge board would consist of a councillor from each of the four surrounding local authorities.
When the tolls were cut last year, the leaders of those authorities agreed that scrapping tolls for hospital patients would be a priority for the new board.
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