Revolt over £8 C-charge

Ken Livingstone is facing massive opposition from big business to his increase in the congestion charge.

Companies such as Boots, Tesco, BT and the Hilton and Marriott hotel groups are protesting at the 60 per cent rise from £5 to £8 a day.

Businesses made public their concern at the Mayor's plans for the first time in a letter signed by many big names.

They warned: "The objectives and benefits of the price increase are not clear enough to justify the extra financial burden on our organisations in London."

The letter was written by lobby group London First on behalf of 50 of its members. And it came as a new survey made clear that just 13 per cent of businesses across London were in favour of the increase. A study by accountants KPMG found 53 per cent of all London businesses were completely opposed to the rise.

Ian Barlow, a senior partner at KPMG, said: "There is no doubt that for some retailers and traders there has been a negative effect on their business."

Separate research by the Forum of Private Business found four in five of 500 respondents opposed a rise which is expected to come in this July. The forum's chief executive Nick Goulding said: "Increasing the congestion charge will be commercial suicide for London." London First called for the charge to be made more "user-friendly" and said a universal pre-payment system, a ban on fines for people who " occasionally" forget to pay and a new deadline for payment on the following day should all be introduced.

The letter was also signed by legal giants Clifford Chance, distribution company Exel, transport firm P&O and the owners of top hotels including Claridge's and the Connaught

It said the £5 charge introduced in February 2003 had already cut congestion. "The existing scheme has already exceeded the target for congestion reduction that was declared before its introduction, and so cannot be justified by the need for any further reduction in traffic levels," the firms said.

It went on: "Despite congestion charging, serious traffic blockages remain. Increasing the charge is not a substitute for traffic engineering. The full economic impacts on business of the existing charge are not understood, so it is premature to consider increasing the charge level."

The group represents the capital's 300 biggest firms and itself helped to devise the congestion charge. It accused the Mayor of turning the three-month consultation on the increase into a "joke".

Chief executive Jo Valentine said: "Increasing the congestion charge without improving the customer friendliness of the scheme or fixing the locations in the zone that remain heavily congested is a disgrace." Dan Bridgett of the London Chamber of Commerce said: "This is an extremely damaging and retrograde step which will appal the businesses of all sizes which are already being hammered by the charge."

Mr Livingstone has offered firms registering 10 or more vehicles a discounted £7 rate, while drivers paying a month or year in advance get a 15 per cent discount.

The Mayor maintains the annual benefit to the London economy of the £8 charge will be worth an extra £50million in terms of reduced delays and more reliable journeys.

And he expects to raise an extra £35million to £45 million a year, on top of the current £79 million profits, to reinvest in public transport.

But he has refused to meet the demands of the Corporation of London, which did support the £8 levy but wanted the charge to end 30 minutes earlier at 6pm, with exemptions for key workers and shift workers at Smithfield meat market.

TfL rejected its requests, saying it would cost £10 million a year to end the zone earlier. It said only NHS staff and firefighters deserved rebates.

Richard Bourn, London campaigner at Transport 2000, said: "The less traffic there is in central London the better.

"We believe it will soon be apparent that the charge is good for economy of central London and that retail and hospitality businesses will benefit from a street environment that is more inviting for people."