PEMBROKESHIRE history will be made with the Cleddau Bridge being toll-free from later this afternoon, Thursday, March 28.

The tolls - 75p for a car - are long said to have cut the county in two and have been the subject of repeated campaigns and questions in both Pembrokeshire County Council and the Senedd.

Plans to scrap the tolls were set out in late 2017, with an initial plan to remove them by 2020.

Pembrokeshire county Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Leisure, Culture and Tourism, Councillor Paul Miller, has previously said: “Abolishing the tolls has been a priority both for me and this administration since taking office and I’m pleased we are continuing to deliver on our commitments to the people of Pembrokeshire.

“The tolls are, without question, an unwelcome barrier to trade in Pembrokeshire and removing that barrier - which currently almost perfectly divides the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone - represents a very positive development for the county.”

The call to scrap the tolls has been a long-running issue, with the campaign taken up by many political hues.

In 1986 Patrick Jones, Liberal-SDP Alliance parliamentary candidate for Pembrokeshire, led a march over the Cleddau Bridge to protest at the Conservative government’s failure to scrap the tolls. At the time it cost 50p to cross.

The 50-strong group of party members and supporters included a contingent of Young Liberals, dressed up in traditional Welsh costume as Rebecca Rioters.

Press reports from September 1986 quote Patrick as saying that Pembrokeshire’s then-MP, Nick Edwards, had promised that the Conservatives would abolish the tolls if they won the 1974 election. As it turned out, the Conservatives lost. However, when they returned to power in 1979, they kept the tolls in place.

On hearing about the removal of the tolls, Patrick Jones said: “I am delighted with the news. £3.1 million was collected in tolls last year. Anyone who needs to cross the bridge for work every day will save about £400 a year.”

He added: “I’m sorry to hear that there may be some redundancies. However, in overall terms, there should be many more job opportunities created, as the £3.1 million previously spent on tolls, should now boost the local economy and the Haven Enterprise Zone, in particular.”

Labour parliamentary candidate Marc Tierney, long a proponent of removing the tolls, said: “After decades of charges, I am pleased that finally local residents will be able to cross the Cleddau toll-free. In discussions with the Welsh Government in 2015, I made it my priority to campaign for the removal of this extra tax on local people.

“A toll-free Cleddau Bridge undoubtedly opens up greater opportunities for businesses on either side of the waterway. I will be asking Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council to monitor traffic movements to understand how support for businesses in the Enterprise Zone can be focussed on maximising the potential of this development.”

Regular users with unused bridge tickets will be able to have them reimbursed.