;urcharge on Londoners?
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
E attraction of London as a shopping centre and a tourist radise would fade if weight restrictions were introduced. So say '75' Club and the Maltsters' Association of Great Britain.
)rices would rise to reflect the :mese in distribution costs, d surcharges for London conmers benefiting from the ns might be the fairest way of :ouping these costs, Clive Ratge of the association exlined.
rhe '75' Club comprises the ads of distribution of the )ijor national brewery organi sations operating in London, and the Maltsters' Association represents the views of over 30 companies in the United Kingdom.
The club operates 26 sites in the Greater London Council area, with the rateable value estimated at £3.25m. It employs 5,0 0 0 and runs 850 heavy vehicles. Approximately 90,000 trunk journeys are made each year, and one million deliveries.
A lorry ban would encourage companies to move away from London and into the provinces, the club's spokesman said, and new plants and companies would be more likely to set up in other cities to avoid lorry weight-restrictions.
The association was of the same view. Energy conservation would also suffer, added Mr Ratlidge, and road congestion would increase. Noise levels from additional vehicles and exhaust fumes would hasten the decay of London's falling living standards.