Life in the Greater Manchester village where you pay 12p to get in and out
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA driver winds down his window and drops 12p into a metal bucket. The toll booth attendant waves his hand and the car trundles across a bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal.
It's a scene that has been played out in Warburton for more than 125 years. Home to no more than 300 people, the tiny village - on the border of Cheshire and Trafford - is best known for its controversial toll bridge.
The only route across the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal between the M6 and M60 motorways, thousands of drivers cross the Warburton Toll Bridge every day. READ MORE: Sir Graham Brady standing down as Altrincham and Sale West MP at next general election Its 12p toll has been in place since 1890 and while it may seem a modest, if unusual sum, it has long been a source of heated debate among people in the village. "The bridge is a nightmare," declares Steve Ellis, who lives in nearby Church Green. "When the motorway has a problem, everyone tries to cut through. "They don't upkeep it.
If you drive over the bridge there's that many potholes you wouldn't believe it." The controversy doesn't end there. When the bridge was built in 1863 by The Manchester Ship Canal Company (MSCC), it cost one person on horseback or in a cart 1p (about 18p in today's money) to cross.
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