Homes plan 'will lead to car chaos'

John Prescott's plans to build more than 200,000 new homes in south-east England will cause chaos on the region's roads and motorways, the Government's favourite thinktank has warned.

John Prescott's plans to build more than 200,000 new homes in south-east England will cause chaos on the region's roads and motorways, the Government's favourite thinktank has warned.

The Institute for Public Policy Research, which has close links to No 10, has predicted that ministers will have to impose extra "pay as you drive" road tolls and congestion charges to prevent the region's roads becoming grid-locked.

Motorists in the South-east's cities and towns should be charged up to 5 pence for every kilometre they drive, and drivers in rural areas about 1 pence a kilometre, the IPPR has said.

The thinktank claims these extra taxes will be required because the Government has failed to prepare for the impact of its house-building plans on roads and motorways by investing in rail and bus networks in the region.

Julie Foley, an IPPR transport expert, said: "Mr Prescott hasn't given any consideration to where the transport services for these homes will come from. They haven't thought about how roads and railways will keep pace with these developments or who will pay for all this."

The criticisms, which will be closely studied in Downing Street and Whitehall, echo growing complaints from environment groups such as WWF and economists that the Government's public transport strategy has failed to plan effectively for the growth in Britain's towns and cities.

Mr Prescott's plans will involve doubling the size of towns such as Ashford in Kent, building a further 30,000 new homes around it. Similarly, Milton Keynes - already Britain's fastest-growing urban area - will see another 32,500 homes built over the next decade.

Last week, a Treasury report suggested that even more homes would be needed. Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, said up to 140,000 new homes would be needed in Britain every year. Up to half those homes would be built in the South-east.

The IPPR report claims the existing transport system will collapse unless ministers take radical action to control car use - similar to Ken Livingston's congestion charge in London, which has cut traffic levels by 16 per cent in the capital.

Official figures have already predicted that traffic around London will increase by 25 per cent by 2010 - filling up the extra lanes being added to motorways such as the M25.

The IPPR report predicts that congestion charging and road tolls would solve this crisis. It could raise up to £2.5bn a year from drivers, which could then by ploughed into modernising the rail network and bus services, and building new light railway and tram lines.

Experts at Imperial College, London, have calculated that introducing traffic charges would also cut road journeys in the region by up to 7 billion kilometres a year - greatly reducing congestion and air pollution.