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The government admits the recession played a part in its decision to scrap plans for a national road charging scheme.

According to reports in The Daily Telegraph, transport secretary Lord Adonis says the Department for Transport (DfT) has dropped the proposals - which would have seen charges of up to £1.30 a mile being levied during peak times.

Adonis says: "We definitely are  not proceeding with national road user charging in the next Parliament. It will not be in the manifesto for the next election. This is not the time to be putting this before the British people.

"I don't believe, as Britain is coming out of recession and motorists are feeling under pressure, that this is the time to put road charging on the agenda."

He adds that local programmes are still a possibility but that any council looking to charge motorists would "have to prove they had public support".

However, Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, believes the government's decision is "completely unrealistic".

"If road use continues to grow, some means will have to be found to deal with it," he adds.

A petition against road pricing , set up by Telford, Shropshire businessman Peter Roberts, attracted more than 1.7 million signatures in 2007.

Although road pricing has gained some support in the road haulage industry, primarily because it would make hauliers from abroad pay for UK road usage, the Road Haulage Association came out against the plans in 2007.