VOLUNTEERS charged 'furious' people a 'toll' to cross a Worcester footbridge during a fireworks display despite it being a public right of way and having no permission to do so.

A metal gate was placed on the Sabrina footbridge while officials in luminous yellow tabards asked people to fork out £5 admission because of the bonfire and fireworks display at Pitchcroft in Worcester on Saturday night.

However, Worcestershire County Council said organisers, the Worcester Round Table, had no permission to charge people to cross. People contacted the Worcester News in anger, saying they were treated like 'cattle'. The event, organised by 'the largest voluntary organisation for young men in the world' attracted crowds of about 7,000 people, raising money for charities including Acorns Children's Hospice in Bath Road, Worcester and the Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign.

Jodie Price, aged 29, of St John's, Worcester, was one of those caught up in a dispute with Worcester Round Table officials who were manning the barricade on the Sabrina Bridge on Saturday.

Miss Price, who was with her partner at the time and refused to pay, said she had put a notice on the Worcester Round Table Facebook page complaining about the barrier but members had yet to respond.

She said: "We were waiting to walk across the bridge and they said 'that takes you into the fireworks'. I said 'this is a right of way, you can't do that'. They said 'yes we can, it's £5 to get across'. People were saying 'this is ridiculous'. One (of the officials) said 'go on, let them through', as if it was more trouble than it was worth. They were pulling faces at each other. It's out of order. I'm afraid I was a little bit rude to them. My partner was even more angry than I was. They just turned their faces away, not looking at him. It is appalling as this is a public right of way. The men taking the money were rude and many members of the public were furious.

"People were not really shouting. They were just saying 'this is crazy, this is madness'. This poor lad on his bike said 'I just want to go home to the university campus'. He turned around and went around the long way, over the main bridge. It was like we were being treated like cattle."

Another woman, who declined to be named, said: "I came from the St John's side of the river, from Hylton Road, expecting to pay on the gate at the racecourse. I was surprised to be charged £5 to cross Sabrina Bridge. There was like a sort of cattle gate and two or three men in yellow tabards. They said 'that's £5 please'. I was a bit shocked. What if I had just wanted to cross the bridge? It felt like I was being charged a toll to cross."

Another man, who also declined to be named, said: "We were expecting to pay anyway. I was surprised to be charged entry on the bridge. But I can see why they did it."

Dawn Scott, writing on the Worcester News Facebook site, said: "Bit miffed that we were not allowed over the bridge to watch. I refuse to pay to go over a public right of way."

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: "We did not impose any such charge or barrier to people crossing Sabrina Bridge over the weekend. Neither did we approve any such action by a third party organisation. Sabrina Bridge is a public highway and as such remains open for free passage by both pedestrians and cyclists."

Round Table chairman Paul Valentine was unavailable for comment yesterday (Monday). However, on Sunday when he spoke to this reporter he denied that anyone had been stopped from crossing the bridge. He said: "We can't stop people going over the bridge."