BBC NEWS

1903 A Royal Commission examining London's traffic is set up and suggests, in 1905, building a ring road to deal with the expected increase in traffic.

The proposed ring road would be built at a 12 mile radius from the centre of London and would be 140ft in width for "main avenues" and 100ft for "first class arterial roads".

The 1903 Motor Car Act requires motor vehicles to be registered and number plates are introduced. The vehicle registration fee is 20 shillings with a drivers' fee of 5 shillings.

1908 The Finance Act imposes the first ever fuel tax in Britain of three pence per gallon of petrol.

1911 Construction on northern sections of the ring road begins.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES