TOLLS on the Cleddau Bridge could be scrapped by April next year, the Milford Mercury has learned.

A council spokesman said that the aim is for the tolls to be scrapped by Sunday, March 31, 2019.

The proposal will need to go before the council to be ratified before the date is confirmed.

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 October last year, with an initial plan to remove them by 2020.

Marc Tierney, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for South Pembrokeshire, wrote to the Welsh Government earlier this year, asking for reassurance that the tolls would be removed by 2020.

In response, Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, said: “By the end of 2018, the Cleddau Bridge will be the only remaining toll bridge in Wales.

“A study commissioned through Pembrokeshire County Council has shown removing the tolls will support the County Council’s economic development strategy, providing a potential economic benefit to the local economy.”

He added: “Ministers have agreed a sum of £2 million in the draft budget for 2019/20 for the removal of the tolls.”

Mr Skates said that the Welsh government are in discussion with the council to establish the ongoing costs of maintaining the bridge.