Road haulier seeks bridge tolls refund

Claim of £500,000 refund for lorries crossing the Skye Bridge

News, 24 August 2005

A road haulier from Skye has written to the Transport Minister Tavish Scott and the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC, asking for the return of almost £500,000 that he paid for his 10 lorries to cross the bridge.

The half-million sum was paid out by John MacKinnon's firm Skye Transport during the 10-year tolling regime operated by the Skye Bridge Company. The Scottish Executive reportedly paid out £27 million last year to end the tolling agreement. Any civil claims for refunds would be the responsibility of the Executive, as ministers and civil servants were responsible for the licence.

Mr MacKinnon has also written to the retired judge Lord Sutherland, whose decision in a 1999 case over non-payment of the tolls is most often held up by the Scottish Executive as proof that the tolling regime was valid.

The Executive ended the tolls, which collected £33 million, last year, after it was revealed that deals agreed by ministers in the 1990s the Skye Bridge Company could enable it to collect tolls up to £128 million, almost 10 times the £13 million cost of building the bridge.

Mr MacKinnon said that it seemed clear that the licence was invalid and therefore it was not unreasonable for him to claim back his £500,000.

About 130 people on Skye have acquired criminal records for non-payment of the tolls.