London Bridge protest: Black cab drivers cause third night of traffic mayhem

Black cabs blocking London Bridge on Wednesday
Inese Ejugbo/Twitter
James Morris28 November 2018

Black cab drivers have caused traffic mayhem for a third day in succession after they formed a blockade on London Bridge.

Frustrated drivers were again out in force on Wednesday evening, blocking both directions of the river crossing between 4pm and 7pm.

The protest was the third of five this week as drivers campaign against Transport for London (TfL) plans to ban taxis from a section of a bus lane in nearby Tooley Street.

The action caused more huge backlogs on both sides of the bridge, with parts of Tooley Street, Southwark Street and Borough High Street closed.

Organised under a banner of the “licensed taxi protest”, drivers claim the bus lane closure plans are an “injustice to our industry”.

They have said it would have implications on journeys to London Bridge Hospital, which is on Tooley Street.

But rush hour commuters again vented their frustration at the protesters, with one tweeting: “Taking a break from flouting laws of the road and blocking traffic, here's London black cabs..er..flouting laws and blocking traffic in a demonstration at London Bridge.”

Another, Ejaz Rashid, remarked: “Soo peaceful crossing London bridge this evening thanks to taxi drivers protest. I think they're making a great case for more #CarFree cities.”

Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of strategy and network development, said in a statement: “A consultation is currently underway on changes to Tooley Street to improve conditions for people walking and cycling, or traveling by public transport.

“The best way for people to let us know what they think about these proposals is to respond to the consultation, so this type of protest is unnecessary.

“All feedback on our proposals will be thoroughly assessed and taken into account.”

The consultation for the Tooley Street scheme runs until January 9, with TfL insisting no decision will be made until all responses are considered.

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