Nationwide car charge is planned

Every motorist in Britain would be made to pay a fee for driving on congested or major roads under radical plans being considered by ministers.

Treasury and Department of Transport officials are investigating proposals for a national "road pricing" scheme where car drivers will be charged up to 45p for every mile they drive.

The move – which would lead to a dramatic shift away from high taxes on petrol purchases and car ownership – has gathered support after the first week of Ken Livingstone's controversial congestion charge passed off relatively successfully.

Fears the £5 flat-rate charge would cause traffic chaos and be flouted by angry commuters were not realised. On the day the charge began, the case for a national scheme was unexpectedly endorsed by Tony Blair. He said it was a good example of the ways in which people would pay directly for the public services they use in the future.

It is understood that Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Transport, is now under pressure to produce a Green Paper on extending road and congestion charging schemes nationwide as early as this summer.

The London scheme faces its toughest test tomorrow when the capital's schools return from half-term holiday. Last week, between 87,000 and 95,000 drivers a day paid the charge as the number of drivers entering the zone slowly crept up each day. Yet this was still about 25 per cent below expected levels.

But it also emerged that one of the most politically damaging challenges to the scheme – a High Court action taken out by hundreds of low-paid workers who commute by car to the city – has been dropped.

Samantha Bond, the actress and leader of the low-paid workers' protest campaign, said their legal action would be suspended after Mr Livingstone and Transport for London executives said they were studying ways to cut the cost for poorer drivers.

The Mayor said he could cut some charges. "This is the experimental phase, and it may be that we might vary the start or finish time, we might change the charge or vary the exemptions. There is nothing which is fixed," he said.

Mr Livingstone confirmed that he was also investigating a much more ambitious charging scheme based on fitting cars with "smart cards" which could be read by hidden scanners or satellites – a proposal that could now be expanded nationwide.

The road pricing proposal is based on expanding a radical scheme currently being developed by the Treasury. From 2006, all lorries will be fitted with "black box" devices that will be read by satellite, and drivers charged fees based on the roads they use and the time they use them.

But Julie Foley, of the Institute for Public Policy Research, a think-tank with close links to New Labour, said this raised very significant civil liberties concerns.

Week one: a driver's diary

Narjeet Sohanpal runs Carrington and Partners Ltd, a residential property agency in Spitalfields inside the charge zone. Like most of her staff, she drives to work and needs a car to do her job around town. This is her diary of the charge's first week.

Monday Drove in from Woodford Green and found it was like New Year's Day. Normally it takes more than an hour, but did it in less than 30 minutes. Lovely. Much faster than paying the charge, which took me seven attempts online and many phone calls. Business very quiet – not so good.

Tuesday Everyone in by 9am. A surprise. Went home at 5pm – traffic was just as bad as normal.

Wednesday Not quite so easy to get in this morning. The traffic is still moving very fast, though.Some of our contractors are moaning they will have to put their prices up.

Thursday I've noticed there are fewer delivery vans at the moment. Business still slow but everyone still on time.It's not clear what it's doing to the property market. We're making it a feature that flats and houses are inside the zone.

Friday Traffic has definitely picked up. It took 40 minutes to get in. Going home almost as bad as ever. This week has been very, very quiet, which is not good for trade, but it's often like this at half-term. Florists and restaurants here feel the same way. Next week we'll see the true picture. I'm not taking any chances on Monday: I'll set off half an hour earlier.