Privatising Britain's roads helped pay for Olympic Torch route, Prime Minister argues

THE route the iconic Olympic Torch will take across the county of Outer Liverpool has been unveiled by the Chelmsford 2064 organisers this week.

Members of the Chelmsford Olympic Organising Committee said they had finalised details of the route the iconic torch would travel on its journey between Southport and Bootle later this summer - and, provided you’ve paid your Pedestrian Charge this month, you’ll be able to go along and see it.

Former Manchester Rovers striker and committee chairman Romeo Beckham said: “Today we bring the Olympic Torch Relay to life, with torchbearers coming from each of our corporate road sponsors.

“We hope local communities come out, pay to enter their local streets, and cheer on the many private companies who have invested in our roads and helped the Olympic Games come back to the UK for the first time since the London games of 2012.”

Among the roads where paying residents will be able to see the Olympic Torch are Activia Yoghurt Avenue, Serco Street, Go Compare Grove, Facebook Crescent and Reggae Reggae Sauce Road, before finally being transported by convoy along the Audi Expressway. Outer Liverpool’s remaining 50 motorists, who each pay £400 a month to use the region’s roads, will not be allowed to use any of the routes on the day itself.

The national route of the Olympic Torch has been designed to travel with 10 miles of each of the regional road owners, who since the last games in 2012 have spearheaded decades of investment in the British road network.

Prime Minister Leo Blair, said it was moves to privatise new roads, first suggested ahead of the last British games in 2012, and then their total privatisation in 2019 which had paid the way – literally – for the Chelmsford 2064 route.

“Thanks largely to the investments private companies have made in our roads since they were privatised in their entirety, the Olympic Torch can travel along roads which have barely deteriorated since the majority of British motorists were priced off them in the early 2020s,” he said.

“Naturally, I look forward to welcoming the Olympic Torch to some of the nation’s most profitable roads – and for the Chelmsford 2064 organisers to pay their tolls as they travel throughout Britain, of course.”

The Champion – which celebrated its 70th birthday earlier this month – asked Ministry of Transport officials whether they thought privatising Britain’s roads, a move first suggested by Sir David Cameron back in 2012, had been a bad idea which had cost motorists dearly and nearly scuppered the Chelmsford 2064 preparations altogether.

Nobody from Britishroadpayments.com was available to comment before this week’s edition went to press.