John Biggs, the London Assembly member for City and East, has said proposals for a new £40m cable car link between the O2 Arena and ExCeL will not benefit local residents.

The Greater London Authority has approved planning consent for the scheme, which mayor Boris Johnson insisted would be funded by private business and not taxpayers. Designed to carry 2,500 people an hour across the River Thames between the Royal Docks and the Greenwich Peninsula, the cost of the cable car link has increased from £25m.

Biggs said: "The cable car will be a great tourist attraction for East London but it is not a replacement for a new road crossing, and is a poor alternative to the existing rail crossings. "Residents in Tower Hamlets, Newham & Barking and Dagenham know that this cable car will not solve their everyday problems in commuting to South East London."