THE row over the proposed second Thames Crossing deepened this week as campaigners against Option C route claimed option A14 at Dartford had been overlooked.

In a letter to MP Jackie Doyle-Price, the Say No to Thames Crossing action group claimed a “motorway-motorway” option of a third tunnel underneath the existing tunnels at Dartford was the best option to tackle congestion and pollution.

The group also claimed that the cost of building a third tunnel at Dartford was the same cost as the Option C project – without the impact on green belt, settled areas and pollution in the area.

In their correspondence with the MP, campaigners argued that option A14 was “the answer to their prayers” for lobby groups on both sides of the river.

They wrote: “Option A14 has the best chance of tackling gridlock at the current crossing by means of offering a motorway-motorway experience.

“It’s also bound to have a huge take-up considering the majority of M25 road users wish to continue on the M25 as part of their ‘average trips’.”

But in a letter addressed to the group, Ms Doyle-Price claimed their data was “flawed” and Option C was still the best for reducing the congestion at the Dartford Crossing.

Ms Doyle-Price wrote: “The crossing is operating beyond capacity at peak times.

“It is in the interests of my constituents for a new crossing, which is sufficiently far away, that it does not add to the already congested road network, but is close enough that it provides an alternative route.

“Without one, they will continue to experience traffic gridlock, which rules out any variant of Option A.  “Route four is in the best interest of my constituents.”

Say No representative Matt Jackson said he found Ms Doyle-Price’s response “frustrating”.

He said: “Surveys have found that 86 per cent would continue using the Dartford Crossing. We have always said, if 86 per cent is still going to remain on the tunnel, shouldn’t there be a better option?

“If you have a got a tunnel, you are able to clean that pollution using extraction techniques. Also you are giving the M25 the link that was always missing.

 “It’s quite frustrating. Ms Doyle-Price has not spent the time looking at what we are really talking about.”