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| Gas guzzlers C-charge up to £25 | Gas guzzlers C-charge up to £25 |
| (19 minutes later) | |
| The highest polluting vehicles will pay a daily charge of £25 to enter the congestion charge zone, London Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced. | The highest polluting vehicles will pay a daily charge of £25 to enter the congestion charge zone, London Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced. |
| Mr Livingstone also revealed that cars with the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will receive a 100% discount from the daily charge. | Mr Livingstone also revealed that cars with the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will receive a 100% discount from the daily charge. |
| Most drivers will still pay the £8 road toll for entering the zone which covers parts of central and west London. | Most drivers will still pay the £8 road toll for entering the zone which covers parts of central and west London. |
| The new charges come into force on 27 October this year. | |
| Transport for London (TfL) estimates about 33,000 vehicles that will now fall into the £25 charge sector drive into London each day. | |
| GAS GUZZLING C-CHARGE The £25 charge will apply to vehicles emitting more than 225 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g/k), as well as those registered before March 2001 which have engines larger than 3,000cc Those vehicles getting a 100% discount will emit less than 120g/k.Of cars currently being driven in the congestion charging zone 17% would be liable for the £25 charge and just 2% for the total discount | |
| It predicts about a third of these will no longer come into the charge zone once the new fee is introduced. | |
| London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said the new charges were likely to bring in £30m to £50m a year, with most of this money going on new cycling and walking initiatives. | |
| Mr Livingstone, making the announcement from City Hall on Tuesday, said: "Nobody needs to damage the environment by driving a gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor in central London. | |
| "The CO2 emissions from the most high-powered 4x4s and sports cars can be up to four times as great as the least polluting cars." | "The CO2 emissions from the most high-powered 4x4s and sports cars can be up to four times as great as the least polluting cars." |
| Mixed reaction | |
| He said TfL would closely monitor the scheme, adding that the new scheme was flexible and that the charges and exemptions could be varied in the future. | |
| But reaction to the scheme has been mixed. | |
| A spokesman for business group London First said it was "just daft" and - said it would "encourage gridlock". | |
| And the National Alliance Against Tolls said: "This move is not based on logic but on the whipping up of prejudices against those who use these particular vehicles. | |
| Draconian measure | |
| "This is a draconian measure when emission producers such as aircraft going to Heathrow pay no taxes on fuel." | |
| But it was welcomed by environmental groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth who said it will encourage people to choose greener cars. | |
| And the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s said: "We look forward to seeing these measures finally doing something positive to reduce dirty, wasteful, unnecessarily large 4x4s and other highly polluting cars from our streets." | |
| The congestion charge was initially introduced in February 2003 and covered just central London, with the daily charge set at £5. | |
| Since then the charge has gone up to £8 a day and a western extension, incorporating such areas as Kensington and Chelsea, has been added. |