KEN LIVINGSTONE is to double the size of the London congestion charge zone despite two public consultations that showed overwhelming opposition to the western extension.

The enlarged zone will include most of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, covering an additional 230,000 residents.

The Mayor of London admitted that congestion inside the existing zone would rise by 5 per cent because 70,000 extra drivers would be entitled to a 90 per cent resident’s discount.

Mr Livingstone attempted to soften the blow by agreeing to end the charging period half an hour earlier, at 6pm, when the enlarged zone comes into force in February 2007.

He also announced that, from September 2006, drivers who forget to pay on the day will be given a further 24 hours before triggering a £50 penalty. However, they will still have to pay at the higher rate of £10, which applies after 10pm on the day they enter the zone.

Mr Livingstone ignored the results of two consultations, claiming they were not representative of the views of the wider population. The results of the second London-wide consultation were published yesterday and showed opposition had hardened, with 70 per cent of residents and 80 per cent of businesses opposed to the extension.

But the mayor also published a survey that he had commissioned which found opinion to be more balanced, with 43 per cent opposed and 41 per cent in favour. Mr Livingstone refused to answer questions about his decision. His press officer said: “I am afraid he is too busy to speak to the press.”

The extension was widely condemned by business groups, including those which had supported the creation of the existing zone. London First, which had previously been one of the strongest advocates of congestion charging, said that the extension was a waste of public money and would do little to ease congestion.

It will cost £118 million to install the signs and enforcement cameras but will generate only £25-£40 million additional operating profit a year. This means that the extension is likely to make an overall loss until 2010. Under the rules of the scheme, any profit must be invested in improving transport. Mr Livingstone raised the charge from £5 to £8 in July after admitting that profits were falling far short of his projections.

Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “We are unconvinced of the need to extend westwards, especially as none of London’s worst congestion hotspots is located there. The extension is wrong for business and threatens an already fragile retail economy.”

The Forum of Private Business predicted that many small firms would be forced to move out of the extended zone because they would lose so many customers. “It is depressing to have a mayor who believes he is licensed to do whatever he wants, regardless of Londoners’ clearly stated views,” a spokeswoman for the London Assembly Conservatives said.