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Dr Stephen Ladyman, speaking today at the FTA’s Freight Summit in London, has warned that without some form of road pricing the UK would see “gridlock in every major city” by 2015.

There are tough decisions to be made, he said, and he is committed to a national solution.

He admitted that the government’s recent attempt to introduce the  idea of road pricing had “gone off half-cocked”, and said “congratulations to our opponents for taking advantage of the Number 10 website” – a reference to the recent petition against road charging which attracted 1.8 million names.

However, he said, “if we block the debate on road pricing, by 2015 no motorist will be driving anywhere because there will be gridlock in every major city”.

But Dr Ladyman said he was open-minded about alternatives to road pricing to solve congestion: “If anyone has a better idea we’ll take it”.

Other commentators at the FTA event were surprised by the comments, given that it is unlikely that a full, national road pricing system would be in place by 2015 – some didn’t think that such a system could be established before 2020.

• Currently there are 10 local authorities with ‘pump-priming’ money in place to assess and forecast congestion  over the next five years – and then to put in place a local system of ‘demand management’.