'We make £75,000 a year from our toll bridge'

Instead of playing it safe with Isas and deposit accounts, three intrepid investors gambled on something weird and wonderful

In 2012 husband and wife Grahame Penny and Maggie Taylor paid 500,000 for one of Britain's few private toll bridges, crossing the River Wye in Herefordshire. At the time it was making around 65,000 a year, but after costs there was little left for its owners.

Nearly four years on, things look a lot brighter: this year's turnover is forecast to reach 120,000 and the couple estimates that the operating profit will be in the region of 75,000. But that only tells part of the story because the bridge comes with a remarkable bonus. The 1780 and 1797 Acts of Parliament that granted permission for the bridge also gave its owners exemption from all taxes - which means the profit is completely tax-free.