Tolls will remain at £1.50 until at least April next year.
The Department for Transport announced plans in June this year for the cost to increase to £2 for cars in November, with a further rise of 50p early in 2012.
Lorries would have seen a rise from £3.70 to £5 by the end of the year and a further increase to £6 in 2012.
A public consultation into the proposals lasting nearly three months ended in September.
Secretary of state for transport Mike Penning said: “I am pleased with the number of responses received and the level of engagement from local communities.
“In recognition of the number of representations made and to allow the department time to carefully consider the responses further, I can advise that there will be no increase in either November 2011 or April 2012.”
Results from a survey of businesses in London, Kent and Essex carried out during the consultation revealed 86 per cent of the 590 respondents disagreed with an increase in toll charges.
Dartford MP Gareth Johnson was pleased with the government’s decision.
He said: “This delay is very much to be welcomed, particularly by retailers at this time of the year when people have tight budgets.
“The local people will welcome the fact they have more money in their pockets which would not have been the case if the tolls had gone up.
“It is interesting the Department for Transport had thousands of people object and I’m pleased the department have taken the objections into account.”
He maintained his opinion that the tolls should completely be scrapped, having previously described the crossing as “Dartford’s nemesis.”
Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter said: “I welcome the fact the toll charges will not be increased.
“It is important the Department for Transport continues to look at delivering additional crossing capacity of the Thames and makes a firmer commitment to when this will happen.
“When tolls go up that money must be earmarked for an additional crossing.”
A final decision on toll rises and a full response to the consultation will be announced early next year.
Comments
Well done to everyone that complained.
Veiled good news.
The whole bloody thing thing should be scrapped as originally promised once it had paid for itself.
The congestion it causes is a joke as well.
Once Kent and Essex Councils got ownership there was no chance that the toll would ever be abolished as originally promised. So much for all the anti-polution guff we have to swallow from these councils, we would not want it to come before a nice little earner would we ?
We desperately need another river crossing somewhere between Blackwall and Dartford.
Not in my lifetime though!
Ever since the sixties (if not before) the idea of building a motorway through Oxleas Woods, Woodlands Farm etc periodically comes up.
by the against votes it would be a bad PR decision.
As many have said too much of a cash cow for any govt of any colour/shape or form to make good the Promise to scrap the tolls.
If the money was actually used to improve the roads and possibly fund a fourth crossing then maybe, just maybe it would be valid to keep it in place. Otherwise it just causes increased congestion day in, day out.
Immigration, Riot benefits, Fuel surcharges to name but three - all to be/having been debated in Parliament in a truly democratic way following e-petitions introduced by the current government
PS - JOKING
Try not to bumpinto me on monday as we travel from thurrock to the valley