The voting was 122 for, 3 against, and 1 abstention. The Bill now awaits the Royal Assent with the tolls expected to go at the end of January.

Despite the near unanimity of the vote, much of the debate in the Parliament and the Committee over the last few months and much of what was told to the MSPs by the traffic experts was negative. Campaigners against the tolls believe that the expert forecasts of the effect of tolls removal on traffic were pessimistic.

The National Alliance Against Tolls who when they were formed faced four tolls in Scotland (the two that have already gone are the Skye bridge and the Clyde bridge at Erskine) warmly welcomed today's vote. They particularly thanked the SNP, who along with the Scottish Tories went into the last election promising to support the removal of all tolls. On Wednesday the Scottish government announced initial approval for a new Forth road crossing and said that it would also be toll free.

Tolls in Scotland were last abolished in an Act of 1878 - the Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act 1878 - which said that "all highways shall be open to the public free of tolls and other exactions".

The NAAT said that "We hope that this time the abolition of tolls will be permanent and that Scotland can use the freedom from tolls to promote inward investment and tourism. We also hope that this will be a lesson to the people in England and Wales that an end can be put to the highway robbery of making drivers who already pay fifty billion pounds a year to the Government queue to hand over more money."