BRITAIN: The Conservatives, small businesses and motoring organisations reacted angrily yesterday to a new scheme to charge motorists £5 a day to drive into central London, announced by the Mayor of London, Mr Ken Livingstone.
Under the scheme designed to tackle congestion in the capital, motorists face toll charges of up to £25 a week to drive into an eight square mile zone and fines of up to £120 if they fail to pay promptly.
Staking his reputation on the charges, which the mayor hopes will raise up to £150 million a year to pay for improvements to public transport and secure his re-election in two years, Mr Livingstone said the scheme represented the first serious attempt to tackle "chronic traffic congestion" in central London.
Mr Livingstone hopes the charge will eventually reduce congestion by up to 15 per cent.
But Ms Angie Bray, Conservative transport spokeswoman in the Greater London Authority, condemned the scheme as "flawed," claiming the charges would tax motorists off the roads and onto a struggling public transport system.
The Federation of Small Businesses and the Automobile Association - which demanded an immediate public inquiry - insisted the scheme would unfairly target the self-employed without ensuring improvements in public transport.
Under the scheme which is expected to begin in February next year, motorists will be charged if they want to drive into a central London zone between 7 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. on Monday to Friday. The zone will extend from King's Cross in the north to Vauxhall Bridge in the south and Park Lane in the west to Tower Bridge in the east of the city.
About 230 cameras will be installed around the edge of the zone which will photograph licence plates when the driver passes, checking the licence against a central database to see if the driver has paid the charge.
Motorists can pay the charge up to 10 p.m. each day in shops and on the Internet and they can pay the charge in advance if they know they will be driving into the zone on a particular day.
If motorists fail to pay the charge they will be fined £80, reduced to £40 for early repayment but rising to £120 for late payment.
Residents living within the zone and members of the public services, such as nurses using the zone for work, will qualify for substantial discounts while disabled drivers, black taxis and minicabs, emergency vehicles, buses and motorcycles will be exempted from the charge.
A spokesman for the Greater London Authority told The Irish Times there were many "ifs and buts" about the scheme and a decision had not been taken on whether the charge would apply in the event of a bus or Tube strike. But he confirmed that foreign registered vehicles would be liable for the charge.