BRITAIN could be divided into ‘pay-as-you-drive zones’ when road pricing is introduced by 2015, the government has suggested.

Tracking systems may now not be used for road pricing in an attempt by ministers to alleviate fears of privacy invasion. More than 1.8 million drivers signed a petition posted on the Downing Street website opposing road pricing.

Speaking to The Times newspaper, transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman said signatories’ main concerns centred around having tracking devices fitted to their cars. Dr Ladyman is reported as saying: ‘We could have charging by zones instead of streets. The heart of a congested city would be zone 1, the area just outside zone 2, further out in the suburbs zone 3 and rural areas zone 4.’

All roads in each zone will be charged at the same rate in a move to deter drivers from rat-running in residential areas.

The proposed system has been rejected by the Association of British Drivers as ‘a tax on city living’.

Spokesman Nigel Humphries said: ‘Ministers have been so upset by the level of public resentment that they are now coming up with ever more bizarre ideas.’