UK fleets face the prospect of having their vehicles banned from London under radical new proposals announced by mayor of London Ken Livingstone. Draconian measures would ban essential business users such as van courier fleets and engineers from entering the capital unless their vehicles meet stringent emission standards.

Addressing delegates at the 'London Calls for Clean Air' conference, Livingstone urged fleets to speed up their use of clean fuel technology or face potential exclusion from roads in the City. He said: 'Despite considerable progress in recent years, vehicles still account for the worst pollution in the capital.

'But a growing number of commercial and council fleets operating in London are using the latest technology to make their vehicles more environmentally friendly and reducing harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides by up to two-thirds and damaging fine particles by as much as three-quarters.'

He pledged to work with businesses to speed up the use of new 'green' technologies as well as promoting better vehicle maintenance and more economical driving styles. Early indications suggest alternatively-fuelled vehicles will avoid congestion-charging when the city introduces the road charging scheme.

Discussions are already under way with taxi fleets in London to reduce emissions and Livingstone said there was a consensus among taxi firms to improve black cab emissions. He added that low emission zones could be introduced in London to meet air quality standards. The Association of London Government and the Greater London Authority are carrying out a feasibility study to assess the impact of a low emission zone within the capital.