Man set up his own toll road without planning permission and collected payments from over 100,000 vehicles within days
Published on Mar 02, 2026 at 5:09 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Mar 02, 2026 at 5:09 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
This British man had a great idea to set up his own toll road in order to collect payments – but doing so without planning permission didn’t end so well.
Sitting somewhere in the countryside of south-west England is Kelston Toll Road, set up by local businessman Mike Watts.
He’d come up with the idea when a landslip blocked the one road linking the towns of Bath and Kelston.
Rather than have people take a 14-mile detour, Watts set up his own toll road – and attracted more than 100,000 vehicles in the process.
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This man made a toll road on private land
Residents between Bath and Kelston were understandably sick of taking a 14-mile detour, so Watts saw an opportunity to help out his community.
With the help of a local farmer, he set up a 400-meter toll road through private land.
Any drivers wishing to pass through would pay $2.59 (or £2, as it were) for the privilege.
For Watts, this was a $390,000 venture.
In order to fund this endeavor, Watts and his wife put up their house as collateral.
It’s admittedly a risky move, but it paid off in abundance, as more than 100,000 cars used it over the next few days.
Appearing on Google Maps no doubt ensured business would be booming.
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Things ultimately came to an end after a few weeks
Watts hadn’t technically committed a crime by doing this, but the council still reached out to ask for retrospective approval.
Admittedly, this was after 14 weeks of use.
And by that time, the original highway had reopened, so it was pretty good timing.
The toll road went back to its original state, aka fields.
It was good while it lasted.
Volume and scale of payments mean that toll roads can be serious moneymakers.
One neighborhood in Texas knows all that too well, after they realized they’d been paying a toll on their morning commute.
And if you happen to have a Simpsons license plate like this Massachusetts woman, it can be very pricey indeed.
But not everyone begrudges paying their way, as these Japanese drivers demonstrated.
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Following stints at LadBible, The Sun, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail, Ben joined the team full-time in February 2025. In his role as Senior Content Writer, his sparkling copy, the ability to sniff out a good story at 100 paces, and a GSOH quickly led to him becoming an integral and invaluable member of the writing staff.
