SHIPS versus cars ... the choice should be simple, but for anyone who lives, works or has to travel in south Warrington, the swing bridges will be a thorn in your side.

So I read with interest Andrew Phillip Moore’s letter last week.

He’s a businessman who says that his company has been badly affected by the swing bridges at Latchford and Stockton Heath – it’s costing him money.

Andrew makes some excellent points – he witnessed in one week the bridges open three times at 8.30am to let one of owner Peel Ports’ service vessels through and asks why this is allowed.

I’ve long thought that it’s absolutely crackers for one ship to be able to pass through at peak times impacting on hundreds of commuters.

Let’s face it Warrington is a nightmare for traffic on an average morning or evening, but shut the bridges off and it’s chaos.

I was equally as frustrated as Andrew one morning just before Christmas when at about 8.10am I joined Knutsford Road only to realise I was completely stuck as Latchford swing bridge was off.

I was wedged between two other cars and couldn’t move, so had to sit it out. But, just as Andrew points out, the same evening, around 6pm, the bridge was off again when I was on my way home, causing more delays.

I don’t know much about tides but it seems clear that at peak times for commuters, ships should be banned or have to wait until the traffic clears.

We’re really only talking about a maximum of a couple of hours at each end of the day. They could be banned from 7am to 9am and 5pm to 7pm – that would make a massive difference to people’s lives.

Andrew has done some digging on this subject and he’s unearthed an interesting fact. He says that Peel Ports’ main weapon is an act of parliament from 1885 that says it can open the bridges when it likes, as often as it likes.

So how can an act made in 1885 be relevant in 2014? I think we can all agree that there’s rather more traffic now than there was 129 years ago.

It’s high time that the council got this act reviewed and there was some more transparency over the whole swing bridges process.

I can’t help thinking that south Warrington sometimes gets a raw deal from its council.

Perhaps if council leader Terry O’Neill and deputy leader Mike Hannon lived on our side instead of north Warrington, and they too had to suffer the bridge going off at the drop of a hat, they might understand our frustration.

That’s why next week the Guardian is starting a campaign to put pressure on Peel Ports to either act in a more considerate, responsible way voluntarily, or to put pressure on our MP David Mowat and the council to take steps to get the parliamentary act reviewed and to make it change.

THANKS for all the feedback on my column, I love hearing your views – good or bad.

Apologies that I wrote that the Ferry Tavern is in Cuerdley when I’m told it’s Penketh, happy to be corrected. I must pay it a visit soon.