§ Mr. MarlandTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received the results of the survey that he commissioned into the extent to which heavy vehicles are diverting through Gloucester to avoid paying tolls to cross the Severn bridge; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KeyI have now received the report and am publishing a summary of the findings today. It shows that although on average some 2,700 more vehicles than might be expected—allowing for traffic growth—travel west through Gloucestershire each day, only 1,500 of these can be positively identified as avoiding the bridge tolls. As the extra traffic is fairly evenly spread over the M50 and the three other main diversion routes and also evenly spread over 24 hours, it amounts to no more than one extra vehicle every seven or eight minutes on each route.
Nevertheless, I shall now be inviting representatives of Gloucester and Gwent county councils to meet me to discuss the findings.