Petition calls to scrap tolls at Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels

TfL has said that once the new tunnel has opened, both the new and existing tunnels will incur a peak-time charge for cars of £4 per crossing.

At off-peak hours, the charge will be £1.50 and the tunnels will be free to access overnight between 22:00 and 06:00.

The tolls are also being used to cover the tunnel’s £2bn construction cost and will go towards its maintenance.

Blackheath resident Liam Davis started the petition asking for mayor Sadiq Khan to scrap the proposed charges.

The petition has stated the tolls “threaten to disrupt ordinary people’s way of life” and would “hurt families, individuals, and businesses who depend on these routes”.

It was formally presented at a City Hall meeting on Thursday by Reform UK’s London Assembly member, Alex Wilson.

Having now accrued more than 37,300 signatures, Mr Wilson said it was the biggest petition ever presented to the assembly in its 24-year history.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The Blackwall Tunnel has been free to use for over 100 years, and now it’s going to cost, depending on what time of day you go, up to £8 per day, if you go in both directions – and that’s another charge, tax, whatever you want to call it, on hard-working Londoners.”