Scrap Toll calls after numbers fall

The M6 Toll is increasingly unpopular and should be scrapped say a campaigners. The National Alliance Against Tolls says drivers are deserting the road.

It says the road should be taken over by the Highways Agency with charges axed.

Quarterly figures released on Friday reported average daily traffic rates of 41,635 for the period April 2008 to June 2008 – a 13.2 per cent drop.

NAAT said the average traffic rate statistics from July 2007 to June 2008 showed the road had experienced its worst year for traffic levels since it opened.

A spokesman for the group said: "This proves drivers are avoiding the road.

"Traffic will be lower on many roads due to high fuel prices, but the West Midlands continues to suffer congestion while there is this virtually empty motorway.

"If the toll were removed then the road could take all the through traffic. It is a mystery why motorists and businesses who are paying a billion pounds a week in roads taxes have to suffer."

Midland Expressway Ltd said roadworks on the main M6 between October 2006 and July 2007 had prompted drivers to use the toll road, which made comparing rates difficult.