CONGESTION charging would be a complete failure in Bournemouth and Poole and would be “suicide” for the area’s tourist trade, say Daily Echo readers.

Thousands of people went online at bournemouthecho.co. uk to read yesterday’s story that transport chief Alex Carter believes a congestion charge is “inevitable”.

We ran a poll asking how many people would vote for a congestion charge. Only seven per cent said “yes”, nine per cent said they’d support a charge if the price was right, but an overwhelming 84 per cent said they would be against.

Jim_Springbourne, from Bournemouth, said: “A congestion charge would spell suicide for Bournemouth as a holiday resort. People would just go to Weymouth, Brighton or Torbay instead. Bad, bad idea.”

Many commenters said public transport was not reliable or cheap enough to provide a decent alternative.

Nick68, from Poole, said: “If public transport hadn’t been run down over the last 40 years, there might not be such congestion.

“How many come into Bournemouth and Poole from Broadstone, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne and beyond who could have benefited from a railway service?”

Mark.s, from Bournemouth, said: “How can they say no new road expansion can be done when they’ve done nothing for 30 years? A relief road up to the Spur Road would help.

“The public transport service used to be OK around the conurbation 10 years ago, it’s pathetic now. And that’s the council’s own fault.

“So many services were dropped for not being profitable, meaning many areas are cut off in terms of a decent bus service.”

Trebor_1970, in Poole, said: “These councils are saying use public transport, or be charged to drive into Poole or Bournemouth. How can this be done, when public transport (Wilts and Dorset especially) totally cut services to whole estates?

“I ask the council to supply reasonable ideas on how to travel to Poole and Bournemouth, with little cost (in this time of hardship for most), to those who cannot afford taxis or public transport, or barely run the family car.”

Many said reduced bus services are responsible for congestion.

John T, Poole, said: “If the bus service had not been cut down so much congestion would not be so great.

“It is scandalous that there is hardly any (sometimes no) bus service south of the main Poole to Bournemouth road. “ And Zzzz, Poole, said: “There’s little point in having a congestion charge if there are no viable public transport alternatives for people to use instead of their cars, unless the point of the charge is simply to raise more revenue. Perish the thought.”

alumchineboy2, alumchine, said: “How come the council have become the enemy of the people?

“No doubt they have to think up some stupid schemes to justify their attendance allowances. Absolute tosh, stupid idea and will cost millions to implement.”

He wasn’t the only one who thought the council would be making a mistake.

Sprint said: “It wasn’t inevitable, but it is painfully obvious that Poole and Bournemouth council have been aiming for this for years.

“They will use the fact that every single junction they have modified or added traffic lights to has increased congestion.

“If a group of everyday road users, with some intelligence and spatial awareness were responsible for road and junction layout, half the congestion would disappear overnight.”

Rayc, from Wimborne, said: “What do you think the prime aim of the road census that has recently been carried out is? It is all about justifying road charging.”

Not everyone thought it was a terrible idea. MoordownMarc, of Bournemouth, said the idea did have merit, “providing that the sums raised are used to vastly improve good-value public transport.

“Unfortunately the money will probably be used on crazy council projects and gold-plated town hall pensions.”

But JLC, Bournemouth, had a novel solution. “Install a monorail and a Nemesis-style rollercoaster link along the beachfront between Bournemouth and Poole. People would come from miles around.