Road to nowhere

There is great justification for that view. The city's ancient and traffic-choked streets were not designed to cope with cars. Something needs to be done, but imposing a congestion charging scheme which could cost up to 244m is clearly not the answer.

City fathers cannot limit the growth of car use – that is a job for Government, which must effect a cultural and infrastructural change in the way we travel – but they can make it easier to get into York by bus, by bike or on foot.

Motorists should not face a further tax before the Government has sorted out Yorkshire's transport problems. As this newspaper has often highlighted, the region has not been given a fair slice of funding for roads and rail.

Like all other councils, authorities in Yorkshire face a decade of austerity. It is the wrong time to throw millions at an unaffordable and unproven road-charging scheme.