DRIVERS will have to pay an extra 50 per cent to use the main crossings between Devon and Cornwall from Friday.

There was fierce opposition to price hikes on the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry when they were first proposed but the long-running dispute was finally resolved yesterday when Transport Secretary Lord Adonis approved the plans.

The cost of cash tolls on both crossings will shoot up from £1 to £1.50 for cars, while those with a Tamar Tag will pay 75p instead of 50p.

Tamar crossings managers last night admitted the plans would be unwelcome, but said without them the bridge "would have been bankrupt".

Campaigners, whose backlash forced a public inquiry, said they were "surprised and disappointed" at the decision.

The cash toll rises are the first for almost 16 years, while pre-paid prices have stayed the same for 13 years.

The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee, which runs both crossings, says the move will stop its reserves from plummeting £7 million into the red by 2012.

That is largely due to escalating maintenance costs, though campaigners blame some of the £60 million in improvement projects going over-budget.

Chairman and Plymouth city councillor Richard Ball said that without a rise, concessionary fares would have to have been withdrawn.

He said: "The bridge would have been bankrupt if we didn't have the rise. This is probably the least painful way."

However, John McGoldrick, of the national Alliance Against Tolls, said he feared another price hike could be as close as two years away.

"All the figures point towards that," he said. "They will soon be coming back for more."