Selling a tax-free cash cow

I was very interested to read the sales pitch from Humberts Leisure the agent instructed to sell the bridge, and thought readers of this website might like to see it, too.

In their glossy online brochure (pictured) they state that "In the last 3 years there has been an annual operating surplus of between £95,468 and £113,481". Nice! And tax-free too, remember. The blurb describes a charming little rural idyll, a pretty little cash cow standing in the sweet water meadows of Oxfordshire, waiting for a higher rate tax payer (for that is who the sales blurb is pitched at) to come along and milk it.

There is no mention in the blurb of the hatred and frustration that toll collection causes the local population. There is no mention of the avoidable environmental damage caused as more and more vehicles have to queue longer than ever before, their engines idling, pumping out choking emissions. There is no mention of the thousands of hours of time wasted by bridge users as they queue to pay that silly toll. No, of course they wouldn't mention that.

Sod the prospective 'higher rate tax payer' buyers looking for an easy tax-free investment; there should only be one buyer: Oxfordshire County Council.