Humber Bridge

The bridge charges three paying bands by axles and weight, and motorbikes and trikes cross free. Cars, small vans and caravans sit in the lowest band. Two-axle vehicles between 3.5 and 7 tonnes share the middle band with minibuses of 9 to 16 passenger seats, buses, coaches and agricultural vehicles, and anything with three or more axles over 7.5 tonnes pays the HGV rate.

Every crossing is charged, northbound or southbound. An account takes 25% off the car toll and 20% off both heavier bands, which is why the bridge calls it the cheapest way to pay.

A load counts as abnormal over 44 tonnes, with an axle load over 10 tonnes on a non-driving axle or 11.5 tonnes on a driving one, wider than 2.9 metres or longer than 18.65 metres rigid. It needs a movement order submitted in advance, police authorisation, the bridge's prior approval and an indemnity form accepting liability for damage. On arrival, call Humber Bridge Control on 01482 423537 for an escort; northbound loads wait in the wide load bay on the south-west side of the A15 approach road.

Light or bulky loads such as portable buildings may be refused in high winds, and every load over 44 tonnes faces enhanced safety checks in those conditions.

Every way to pay is away from the bridge: online, in the Humber Bridge app, with cash or card at any PayPoint, or by phone on 01482 235500, and American Express is not accepted. A Guest Crossing is the pay as you go option: enter the registration and buy up to 10 crossings at a time, either up to 12 months ahead or by midnight the day after you cross. Unused Guest Crossings stay valid for 12 months and are used automatically on your next trips.

An account costs nothing to open beyond credit: £10 to start plus £5 for each vehicle on a personal account, or £15 for each vehicle on a business account, all of it spent on tolls, with no deposit or admin fee. A personal account holds up to 5 vehicles, one of which can be a Motability car, and a business account up to 2,000. Cameras read the plate as you cross and the toll is normally deducted two days later. The balance cannot go negative, so set up auto top-up, which starts at £10, or remember that a bank transfer or standing order can take up to three days to arrive.

Miss the midnight deadline and the bridge asks the DVLA for the registered keeper's name and address, then posts an Unpaid Toll Notification for the toll plus a £25 admin fee. It applies to each unpaid crossing. Account holders get one too if the balance was short and not topped up in time, or if the vehicle was not on the account, or was added with the wrong registration, by midnight the day after.

A payment made after the deadline is not set against the old crossing: it goes towards future ones. A UTN cannot be paid from an account balance either; pay it with the reference number on the notice.

For a business the account discount compounds across every vehicle. A business account takes up to 2,000 registrations under one login, and the toll is exempt from VAT, so the bridge issues no VAT receipts and there is no VAT to reclaim.

Free crossings go to disabled people receiving the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or the enhanced rate of Personal Independence Payment, in a fully tax-exempt vehicle. A privately owned car must show the disabled taxation class on its V5; a Motability car is covered by its contract hire agreement. The disabled person need not drive but must be in the vehicle. A Blue Badge on its own does not qualify.

The concession covers one vehicle, is not transferable even to a temporary replacement, and cannot be used in connection with a business.

Authorised by the Humber Bridge Act 1959, built 1972 to 1981, first open to traffic June 1981 and officially opened by the Queen on 17 July 1981. Tolls were frozen from 2012 (car £1.50, van £4.00, HGV £12.00 with 10% off for HumberTAG). The increase was announced 27 June 2025, delayed from late 2025, and took effect at midnight on 30/31 January 2026 with the launch of the ANPR Humber Bridge Toll system (fully live 2 February 2026), when the payment window changed to midnight the day after and the admin fee rose from £15 to £25.

The car toll had been £1.50 since 1 April 2012, when it was halved from £3 after the government wrote the bridge's debt down by £150 million, and it stayed frozen for almost 14 years. On 27 June 2025 the Humber Bridge Board announced the first rise since 2012, citing the growth in maintenance and operating costs over 13 years, and said toll receipts are reinvested in maintenance to secure the structure for at least the next 100 years.

The new prices took effect on 31 January 2026, when the Humber Bridge Toll system began replacing HumberTag; the new system became fully operational on Monday 2 February. HumberTag account holders had paid 10% less than the toll. The admin fee for a late payment went up from £15 to £25, its first rise in 11 years, because of the rising cost of recovering unpaid tolls.

The Humber Bridge Act of 1959 made a crossing possible, but work did not start until 1972 and took nine years, with more than 1,000 people on site at the peak. When it opened in 1981 it was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world, a record it held until 1998, and it is still the longest in the UK. Its main span is 1,410 metres, the whole bridge 2.22km, and the towers, 155.5 metres tall, are 36mm further apart at the top than the bottom to allow for the curvature of the Earth.

In high winds the bridge advises certain vehicles not to cross, to protect both users and the structure. Its published guidance specifically warns against vehicles with roof boxes and square, boxy vans when wind restrictions apply. It says a standard 3.5 tonne Transit should be able to cross. Check the bridge's vehicle chart for other types before travelling.

Watch the variable message signs on the approaches, and the bridge's X and Facebook accounts, before setting off with anything on the list.

Before the bridge, road traffic between the two banks faced a lengthy detour via Goole, and the bridge's own history says it shortened some journeys by up to 60 miles. That detour is still the only road alternative when the wind or a closure stops you crossing.

Walkers and cyclists use the West Footpath, open 5am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 6am to 9pm at weekends. Bridge vehicles sometimes use the footpath too, showing flashing orange lights.

Most £25 fees come from one of these.