The research, commissioned by Chancellor Gordon Brown and published ahead of next week's pre-Budget report, says £28 billion should be raised from the UK's 30 million motorists.

Black boxes inside everyone's vehicles would monitor where you drove, with prices rising at peak congestion periods.

And according to This Is Money, original plans to make any pay-as-you-go driving charges 'revenue neutral' by abandoning petrol duty and road tax have been abandoned.

Regional trials are expected to start in five years.