Dartford Crossing petition close to reaching government acknowledgement

A campaign launched to fight for the abolition of the Dartford Crossing toll has exceeded 10,000 signatures, which will be enough to force the government into a written response.

The petition was launched by Neil D'Silva, in response to the government continually reneging on an agreement to abolish the charges. 

In February 1999, the government agreed that fees would be abolished once the bridge had paid for itself, and therefore by the end of 2003 would be toll free.

However in 2001, the government announced that it was reneging on that agreement, sparking outrage from motorists and motoring organisations. It has continued reneging on that agreement ever since, putting a financial burden on all road users, including taxi drivers and private hire drivers. 

Powers to introduce a charge were agreed by Parliament in the Transport Act 2000, and the charge was then implemented in 2003. 

The petition is now sitting at 16,943 signatures, which will now force a government response. If it reaches 100,000 signatures there will have to be a debate in parliament on the subject. 

The campaign will run until the end of February.