Merseyside’s maritime revival could be sunk by swingeing business rate rises, port companies said on Tuesday as they braced themselves for bills expected to be triple last year’s levels.

The government’s revamp of the rates system for ports could put dozens of businesses into insolvency, threatening 3,000 direct jobs and thousands more in hired labour, said the Mersey Dock rating group, a campaign group of 70 companies fighting to reform the law.