Councillors from a London Borough north of the Thames have started a petition to change the name of the Dartford Crossing to Dick Turpin Way after the notorious 18th century highwayman because of the increase in tolls which kicked in this week.

Tolls rose to use the bridge and tunnel crossing connecting Essex and Kent from £1.50 to £2 on 7 October with a further 50p increase planned for 2014.

“The crossing is also known as Canterbury Way and we now have a rather splendid petition on the No 10 website to rename it Dick Turpin Way as the toll is no more than highway robbery,” said opposition leader at Havering Borough Council Clarence Barrett in a local resident’s association bulletin. 

The petition calls upon the relevant department to change the name as the new title would “more accurately reflects the nature of the crossing while establishing an historical context”. So far 360 people have signed in support. To trigger a House of Commons Debate 100,000 signatures are needed.

Government says the increase in tolls is needed to fund the introduction of number plate recognition charging and construction of a new lower Thames crossing to ease routine traffic jams on the approaches to Dartford.

Last year 50.8M vehicles used the tunnel northbound or bridge southbound, down from the peak of 2003-4 when the number stood at 54.5M.

The petition can be viewed at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34183

To return to the newsletter, please close this window.