Firms oppose road charges plan

Congestion is said to cost the average business £5,000 per year

Businesses in the Thames Valley have hit out at the Government's plans to bring in road pricing.

Chamber of commerce bosses say that local firms see any form of congestion charging as "just another tax".

Their comments come after the Government unveiled a £7bn road building programme - the biggest expansion of the motorway network for more than a decade.

At the same time, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling also proposed long-term plans for nationwide road charging.

Christopher Quinton, president of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group, said: "The chambers have long argued that without major investment and improvement in public transport, road pricing is just another tax.

Britain has lost six years waiting for the reality of the situation to hit the Government and this has cost business billions of pounds Christopher Quinton

"Unless there is a real alternative in the form of much improved public transport services, we will continue to argue against congestion charging in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire."

Mr Quinton welcomed the moves to tackle traffic congestion, saying that it cost the average business £5,000 per year.

But he added that there was frustration among many at the length of time it had taken for the Government to act.

He said: "These are wasted years in which the problems facing business and drivers in general have worsened.

"Britain has lost six years waiting for the reality of the situation to hit the Government and this has cost business billions of pounds."