Hundreds of Kingston businesses will be left with a £3m bill to help fund the Crossrail project, even though it will not pass through the borough.

Kingston Council lobbied for the borough to be included in the scheme but, even though it was unsuccessful, 723 Kingston businesses, 14 schools and 16 other council services will pay for it via a levy on business rates.

This week Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced he would raise the threshold for the levy from £50,000 to £55,000, but Liberal Democrats claimed only 62 local businesses would benefit.

Councillor Derek Osbourne, leader of the council, said: “I of course welcome the good news that a small number of local businesses will now be excluded from the tax – but as I explained to Boris back in October, the cost of this new railway should fall on the companies and people who live near and will use Crossrail, not schools, public services and council tax payers many miles away in Kingston.”

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