"Battle over policy"

The government White Paper was originally due out in the Spring, then put back to mid-June and is now scheduled for publication at the end of the month.

Lib Dem transport spokesman Matthew Taylor said this was evidence that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who is in charge of integrated transport policy, was engaged in a struggle with the prime minister's advisers on how radical the government's proposals should be.

Mr Taylor said he hoped the battle over measures to reduce car use would be won by Mr Prescott as it was "time to break the tyranny of the motor car in towns and city centres".

At the moment, however, he said he had heard that the White Paper would be "rather long on options and rather short on specifics".