London's congestion charge zone nearly doubled in size today despite objections from businesses and a national campaign against road tolls.
The original zone in central London, already the world's biggest, will now extend westwards to take in some of the capital's most exclusive areas, like Chelsea, Kensington and Notting Hill.
Although the aim of the £8 weekday daily charge on all vehicles in the new London zone, extending from Hyde Park to Earl's Court, is to cut congestion and journey time, it is actually expected to boost traffic in the original zone.
Nevertheless, the existing charge zone has been so successful - bringing vehicle numbers down about 10 per cent four years after it started - that cities in the United States and Europe are following suit, and the British government is planning national road tolls from 2015.
But the plans to extend road pricing schemes to highways and urban centres throughout the country have attracted widespread opposition.
So far, 1.5 million people have signed a petition against a national scheme on Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street website in a campaign that ends on Tuesday.
Congestion in Britain has become a major headache for the government and businesses with more than 30 million cars clogging the roads in a nation of 60 million people.