A TOLL bridge over the River Thames in Oxfordshire sold for £1.08m at auction today.

Swinford Toll Bridge, near Eynsham, is governed by its own Act of Parliament which makes it a tax haven.

The bridge, in Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s Witney constituency, is one of the last toll bridges in Britain still in private hands.

Its buyer is exempt from paying income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or VAT on the bridge because of the Act passed in 1767 by George III granting private ownership to the Earl of Abingdon.

Motorists pay 5p per car, and up to 50p per lorry, to cross the bridge, a Grade II*-listed structure.

Just under four million vehicles use the bridge to get in and out of Oxford city centre, which is six miles away, every year and it is especially busy during rush hour. It has a gross annual income of about £190,000.

Tolls are collected manually from a toll booth at the northern end of the bridge. They are not collected overnight, but the new owner may have the chance to install an automatic barrier and pay machine, which could bring in an extra £25,000 a year. The new owner will be responsible for upkeep of the bridge.

Local residents have claimed the bridge causes traffic jams and pollution and have called for Mr Cameron to scrap the toll.

A two-storey Grade II-listed Cotswold stone cottage next to the bridge is included in the sale, along with a car park and 4.36 acres of land, which contains part of the riverbank and an area of woodland.

It had been expected to reach between £1m and £1.25m at the auction at the Park Lane Hotel, London, held by property consultant Allsop. Bidding for the bridge started at £800,000.