FOREST brewer Don Burgess met with Transport Minister Stephen Hammond to discuss Severn Bridge tolls in the wake of a survey which showed the charges make up 10 per cent of local industry's delivery charges.

The survey was carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and found a rise in tolls would significantly increase overheads.

Mr Burgess, who runs the Freeminer Brewery at Steam Mills and is chairman of the Forest FSB, said: "The FSB survey was of 83 of our members trading locally – and more than half told us that the increase in tolls would increase their overheads significantly, while 13 per cent believe that they will actually lose business.

"Although the meeting with the Minister did not result in concrete changes to the future of the tolls and the ownership of the bridges, we were encouraged that we were invited to make our views known at a high level.

He added: "We are effectively looking at a tax that is being imposed on local businesses - simply because of where they are located - and we believe that this is just so unfair and does not give a level playing field for existing or potential local businesses. We have to keep making our case for the tolls to be reduced, or abolished altogether, when the bridges come back into public ownership in five years time. They may consider us a squeaky wheel – but it is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil."

Meanwhile, a proposal by the Welsh Government to use the Severn Bridge tolls to fund a new M4 relief road in South Wales have been condemned by the FSB in Wales as 'grossly unfair ' and they have also asked for 'clarification' of the Welsh Assembly plans for the Severn crossings.

Powerful industry organisation the Freight Transport Association (FTA) also added its weight behind the FSB concerns, adding its own views over plans to retain the bridge tolls even after the bridges return to public ownership, to give them a 'revenue stream' which would be used for ongoing maintenance of the crossings. The FTA slammed these proposals, saying: "As the bridges would have been paid for by the users, they shouldn't be asked to finance additional infrastructure which really should be funded by the government."

Monmouthshire politician Lord German has also been campaigning against the tolls, calling them 'highway robbery', and points out that drivers using the bridge have already repaid the £330 million cost of building the second Severn crossing – twice over.

The tolls currently stand at £6.20 for cars, £12.40 for vans, and £18.60 for HGVs. This compares with the tolls for the Humber bridge, which are £1.50 for cars, £4 for light HGVs and £12 for HGVs.