In Reply to Spardo and Mushroom Man
If you arrive at the tunnel booth and dont have the means to pay, they will take your details and send you a bill, Re the pre paid tickets, I recall my Dad getting a book of these as he had a disabled sticker, dont think they do them anymore.
You can still pay cash, but they have had Tunnel " Fast Tags " for many years, this is a plastic sender unit which you attach to the windscreen in front of the rear view mirror and this is read as you approach the barrier, if you have sufficient funds in your account the barrier lifts automatically.
But as I type this they are in the process of doing away with " Fast Tags " and replacing them with (A.N.P.R )Automatic number plate readers, same principal as the Fast Tags but you have to register your vehicle registration numbers with them, personally I can foresee lots of problems with this system, especially for people who use different vehicles that are not registered with the Tunnel, at least the Fast Tag can be carried in your pocket.
Re the Police investigation into the Tunnel operatives, yes there was a number of staff who were helping themselves to money, at this time you threw your Tunnel Toll into a basket at the booth, if the amount was correct the barrier would lift.
Obviously the Tunnel got wind of staff helping themselves, an observation point was set up on the roof of an adjoining warehouse to capture the events, one of these showed a chappie walking across from the offices carrying a tool box which was obviously empty, on his return journey to the office he was struggling to carry it !! .
The Tunnel was supposed to be free when the debt was paid off, but this is never going to happen as the Tunnel has become a " cash cow "and is funding other parts of the Mersey Travel system.
Cheers
John
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This reminds me of a situation years ago when Glasgow Corporation introduced money boxes for their “pay as you enter” buses. The money was deposited in a part of the box that had a glass screen and if the driver was satisfied that enough money had been deposited he would issue the ticket and press a button on the cab floor that dropped the cash into a cash vault at the bottom of the box which would be emptied when the bus returned to the depot. A couple of clever nightshift mechanics, based at the Newlands depot, rigged some of the machines so that the notes got diverted into a separate part of the money box and they would collect them from the machines during their shift when no-one was about. It was only when the cashiers noticed that the same buses seemed to be returning a lot less than others that an investigation began and their little scam was discovered.