Mayor’s roadworks charge ‘will increase energy bills’

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The Mayor wants to relieve congestion and encourage work to be finished as soon as possible by forcing businesses such as Thames Water to "hire" the roads. This could see firms charged more at peak hours to cause minimum disruption to drivers.

But energy companies say this could force them to pass on the charges to customers. This week Mr Johnson received a letter from Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, who agreed in principle to the proposals.

The Mayor said: "The best way to persuade utilities companies to make haste with their roadworks is to charge them for every minute that they dig. London's motorists are understandably furious if they see unmanned armies of cones and I'm delighted that the secretary of state is backing my proposal."

The charge is yet to be set but a scheme in Camden in 2002 saw firms pay up to £650 a day. They were charged £500 a day for standard roadworks and £300 a day for emergency work on 50km of main roads.

A spokesman for the National Joint Utilities Groups warned today that consumers would be charged more and there could be an increase in roadworks due to preparation for the Olympics.

He said: "A daily lane rental charge would be an unavoidable cost, which would ultimately increase consumers' bills. Daily overstay charges of up to £2,500 per day already exist as an incentive to complete works on time.

"We are therefore disappointed that the Mayor is considering further measures before the effectiveness of all these important initiatives is evaluated, and the benefits realised."

Kulveer Ranger, Mr Johnson's transport adviser, said: "The Mayor believes lane rental will help crack the problem of over-running roadworks in London. Rather than passing the buck by moving costs to customers we hope that utility companies will find that by working more efficiently they can actually save money."

A code of conduct was introduced earlier this year by Mr Johnson and agreed to by NJUG. This stated that heavy plastic plates must cover holes when work was not being carried out so roads and pavements could still be used.