The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced that the results of a public consultation on the western extension mean he will begin the legal processes required to remove the Western Extension of the Congestion Charging zone.

The Mayor promised to be accountable and to follow the democratic will of Londoners, and abiding by the results of a consultation was a key manifesto pledge after the zone was introduced under the previous administration in spite of massive local opposition.

The consultation ran from 1 September to 5 October 2008 and attracted nearly 28,000 responses and overall 67 per cent of individual respondents and 86 per cent of businesses responding to the public consultation supported the removal of the zone.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

“During the election I promised Londoners a genuine consultation on the future of the extension. I promised that I would respect their opinions and I promised that if clear support for a particular way forward emerged then I would act on that opinion. Londoners have spoken loud and clear, and the majority of people have said that that they would like the scheme scrapped.”

A draft revision to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy reflecting his intention to remove the Western Extension will be the subject of a statutory public and stakeholder consultation scheduled for summer 2009. Following this, TfL would also need to consult the public and stakeholders on a variation to the Congestion Charging Scheme Order to formally remove the Western Extension.