WARRINGTON Borough Council has refused to confirm how much compensation it is paying Peel Ports to build a river crossing over part of its property.

A key component of the authority’s £19.8 million Centre Park link road project is a new bridge across the Mersey to connect Chester Road to the town centre, via an extended Slutchers Lane leading from Wilson Patten Street.

The scheme will also see new traffic signal junction arrangements on Chester Road and Wilson Patten Street, along with traffic calming proposals for the Gainsborough Road area.

But it can be revealed the council has to pay Peel Ports compensation as the bridge will cross a section of the Mersey owned by the company.

However, it says it can’t reveal the sum.

A spokesman said: "In March 2018, the executive board approved the payment, alongside all other land and property acquisitions required for the scheme.

"The value paid for the bridging rights is commercially confidential at the present time, as are the payments made to other landowners whose property assets are also required for the project to proceed.

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"The payment was incurred as a result of the bridge crossing a section of the River Mersey which, when the Manchester Ship Canal was built, was diverted to its current course in order to accommodate the canal’s route through this area.

"This section of diverted river passed into Peel Ports ownership.

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"As the scheme requires some of this property, owned by Peel, the council needed to agree a compensation figure with them to acquire the land and rights required to construct the new bridge and hence Centre Park link."