ITCHEN Bridge toll collectors will be replaced by machines under plans due to be approved by Tory council leaders in Southampton tonight.
Coin toss bins and electronic tags could be brought by October next year in a bid to save around a quarter of a million pounds a year.
Twelve toll collector jobs will be made redundant, although a manager and some "lane attendants" would be retained to help drivers with the changeover.
Council road bosses think the automated machines will speed up the flow of traffic by up to 26 per cent off peak and 15 per cent during peak hours.
The toll charges will remain the same.
The plan will go before the full council in February. The toll machines and barriers would be put in over the summer. Lasers will scan the size of vehicles to charge the correct toll.
The Itchen Bridge officially opened in June 1977. The bridge, which cost £12m to build, has raised more than £50m in tolls since they were introduced to "regulate traffic flows".
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