London Bridge protest: Black cab drivers blockade river crossing sparking huge traffic jams

James Morris26 November 2018

A black cab protest on London Bridge has sparked huge traffic jams in the capital.

Taxi drivers have created a blockade on the bridge as they campaign for the right to drive in bus lanes.

The protest is set to last until 7pm with massive traffic jams reported in both directions during Monday’s evening rush hour.

A poster for the protest reads: “Where buses go, we go. Stop the lies, stop the discrimination, stop the injustice to our industry!”

The black cab protest on London Bridge on Monday evening
@HazleRikky/Twitter

The action was called over plans to make a small section of nearby Tooley Street only available for buses and bicycles.

One cab driver told the Standard that the proposed changes to Tooley Street could have implications for people trying to reach London Bridge Hospital, which is on the street.

Jennette Arnold, a Labour Assembly Member in nearby City Hall, said of the protest: “Never a dull day in London.”

Another onlooker, Martin Pezet, said there were taxis "as far as the eye could see".

The London Cycling Campaign group countered the drivers' complaints, saying that closing the section of Tooley Street would be "a small change that will improve things for people on foot and bike".

It said: "Cabs won’t even be banned on Tooley Street: they will just be restricted to one-way in a short section of road near London Bridge station - which was the situation for years during the London Bridge station upgrade and only reopened recently.

"Cabbies have a long history of opposing improvements to London’s streets, and the furious reaction to this modest scheme shows they’re determined to block any and all progress."

This page is being updated.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in