Paper is lying over congestion charge, Mayor says

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, accused the city's main evening newspaper yesterday of printing a "bare-faced lie" about the congestion charge and referred its allegation to the Press Complaints Commission.

On the fourth day of the £5 levy on motorists, Mr Livingstone said the Evening Standard had published a "dishonest" story alleging thousands of drivers would be wrongly fined. The Mayor accused the Standard, which is owned by the right-wing Daily Mail group, of being a "knocking paper" and publishing a "consciously misleading" piece.

The latest row follows the spat between the Standard and Mr Livingstone last year when the newspaper reported that a man, Robin Hedges, was seriously injured at a party when he fell down a stairwell after a tussle with the Mayor.

In a letter to the newspaper's editor yesterday, Mr Livingstone said: "It isapparent that the Evening Standard is gutted that the congestion charge has gone relatively smoothly so far. The Standard ... cannot bring itself to be responsible and fair in its coverage."

The Standard said it stood by its story, claiming it had uncovered "serious flaws".

Transport for London (TfL) said 15,183 non-payers were detected in the scheme's first two days. Thousands of charge dodgers received notification of £80 fines yesterday but TfL acknowledged some innocent drivers would receive notices.

The Standard claimed thousands of motorists might be wrongly sent fines because of flaws in spy vans, one way used to catch motorists. It said four in 10 registration plates were misread. TfL admitted incorrect penalties would be sent, but denied the vans misread 40 per cent of registrations.