Heathrow car charge shock

Airline passengers travelling to and from Heathrow are to be hit by the Mayor's congestion charge if they use their own cars or take taxis to get there.

They will be charged up to £5 if they use private transport, minicabs or taxis to catch their flights or meet relatives.

The move - seen as yet another tax on airport users - will use the money taken from travellers to fund the new Crossrail link from Paddington to the City. The aiport's 40,000 workers will be exempt.

Mayor Ken Livingstone plans to introduce the Heathrow levy immediately after the proposed central London congestion charge goes through, he told a conference sponsored by the Corporation of London.

Confirming his plans for the first time after the Evening Standard revealed details of the proposed charges in January, Mr Livingstone said that, after introducing congestion charges to the centre of town: "I would move rapidly to put in a congestion levy around Heathrow."

Although the plan is in its early stages, the fee will infuriate motorists who are already objecting to the Mayor's plan to charge them £5 to enter central London from February next year.

Mr Livingstone claims the British Airports Authority and British Airways are both enthusiastic about the scheme, which would be enforced by a network of video cameras, backed by fines for evaders.

Travellers using Heathrow already pay around £14 in airport taxes for a trip to Europe.

However, Mr Livingstone's plan will find support in some quarters. Environmentalists say that roads to the west of London are paralysed by travellers driving to the airport when they could go by public transport-instead. The charge would also be welcomed by residents near the airport who fear local roads will become swamped when Terminal 5 is finally completed.

In a statement to GLA members, Mr Livingstone said: "The idea I have in mind is a congestion charge that would absolutely follow the boundary of the airport, thus having no effect on passing traffic - only traffic that turns in."

He said it would "not need 130 cameras" pointing at roads leading in and out of the complex, but "half a dozen", because there are relatively few exit and entry points.

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