AA president Edmund King slams Dartford Crossing toll rises (From News Shopper)

AA president Edmund King slams Dartford Crossing toll rises

1:25pm Saturday 6th October 2012 in Dartford & Swanley news By Tim MacFarlan, Bexley and north Kent reporter

THE PRESIDENT of the AA has slammed tomorrow's Dartford Crossing fare rises as "a bridge too far".

From 6am on Sunday (October 7) charges will rise from £1.50 to £2 for cars,£2 to £2.50 for two axle goods vehicles and from £3.70 to £5 for multi-axle road users.

AA president Edmund King said: "Long distance travellers from UK and Europe, freight, business and regional users have all been sold down the river by successive governments through the unnecessary perpetuation of tolls and lack of future capacity at Dartford.

"Tolling was supposed to pay for the Dartford Bridge and then end, which would have been in 2003.

"However, it became a nice little earner which raises around £70m a year.

"To keep charges here with the aim of deterring traffic is crazy as the crossing is on one of the most important motorways in Europe, keeping traffic away from London and communities in the south-east.

"Ramping up the tolls when the majority of users have no alternative about the time and place they cross the Thames is simply impractical and a bridge too far in road charging".

A staement from the association added: "Sunday’s 33 per cent hike in the cost of using the Dartford crossing, used by 140 million motorists each year, should not go ahead.

"To take an extra £20 million from drivers each year, while they sit in queues with no firm plans for a new crossing, is unacceptable."