M6 toll road a rip-off, says MP

Tory MP Mark Pritchard has written to Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander asking him to reveal figures for the number of vehicles using the toll motorway and urging him to investigate the operators' pricing policy.

He said that he had recently joined the M6 Toll on his way to London only to find that there was an incident ahead which he could have avoided if he had taken another route.

On another occasion, the motorway had been closed ahead and he was forced to leave it - but still charged the toll fee, which currently stands at £4 for cars and £8 for lorries and coaches.

"People were having to pay to come off the toll road even though they had not used it. Yet how many of them claimed or were given refunds?" asked Mr Pritchard.

"This is yet another example of a rip-off."

The Wrekin MP continued: "This is the company which wants to expand its toll road business throughout the UK, including possibly in Shropshire with the extension of the M6 Toll to the M54.

"It is important that their business practices are open to full public scrutiny and have the confidence of road-users," said Mr Pritchard.

The MP says he has also written to transport secretary Alistair Darling, calling for "immediate action" to tackle overcrowding on Shropshire trains.

Central Trains today announced plans to introduce more carriages on some routes between Birmingham and Shrewsbury.

Gerard Burgess, spokesman for Central Trains, said: "Mr Pritchard highlights an important issue.

"With performance improving, Britain's railway network is now carrying more passengers than at anytime since the Second World War.

"Providing sufficient capacity to accommodate this growth is the challenge facing both the Government and the rail industry.

"I am pleased to say that we have acquired nine additional modern diesel trains, most of which are three carriage sets."

By London Editor John Hipwood