FRESH misery is being heaped on motorists after a series of weekend closures of the Blackwall Tunnel were confirmed.

The tunnel is already closed five nights a week, Sunday to Thursday, from 9pm to 5am as part of a three-year £70m refurbishment.

Now Transport for London (TfL) plans to do the same thing from 9pm on Fridays to 5am on Mondays over five weekends this year, starting next month.

It says this will allow improvement work on ventilation shafts that cannot be carried out on weeknights.

Plumstead musician Doug Harper, who set up the Blackwall Tunnel Protest Group to fight the closures, said he was “incredulous” at the new plans.

He said: “It beggars belief. The people of south London just think they’re being treated with no respect."

Mr Harper, whose Facebook group now has 535 members, added: “I’ll continue to fight this until the tunnel opens again.”

A proposal by London Assembly member for Greenwich and Lewisham Len Duvall to keep the Woolwich Ferry running 24-hours a day during the weekend closures has been dismissed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Mr Duvall said: “South Londoners are being short-changed as any new river crossings are years away and in the meantime we have to put up with closures and disruption.”

TfL’s chief operating officer for streets Garrett Emmerson, who chaired two public on the subject last weekend, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience these weekend closures may cause and are doing all we can to minimise disruption whilst these works are being carried out.”

The closures will run on the weekends beginning June 4, July 9, July 16, September 10 and October 1.