CASH collected from motoring taxes should be reallocated to improving the UK's under-resourced road network and transport infrastructure, according to Bob Rider, managing director of Masterdrive Leasing & Rental. In 1996/97 the Government collected £30.5 billion in vehicle excise duty, tax on the private use of business cars, VAT on cars and fuel and fuel duties with about a quarter being spent on road transport.

In joining the increasing calls for more of the cash collected from motoring taxes to be spent on roads and transport Rider said: 'This Government has inherited a mess from its predecessors. What a difference it would make if a significant proportion of motoring tax revenues were regularly dedicated to the UK's road and rail network.'