One of Bradford Council's top bosses has ruled out the prospect of congestion charging in the district.

Last week Manchester announced its intention to charge motorists £5 to drive around the city centre at the busiest times and several other major UK cities are said to be considering similar ventures.

But Alan Mainwaring, strategic director of regeneration at the Council, said such measures were not appropriate for Bradford.

He said: "While we are following the development of road pricing very closely, there are no proposals to introduce it in the Bradford district."

Proposals for road charging schemes have been met with a dim view from Bradford's business leaders. Sandy Needham, chief executive of the Bradford Chamber, said: "I do not like the idea of the Government charging money which is then just absorbed into the general budget. How is that going to take us forward?

"It would have to be ring-fenced for transport improvements. We need to find workable solutions that are tailored to the area's needs.

"One transport solution will not work across the country."

The Federation of Small Business Yorkshire policy chairman, Chris Glen, said charging road users would be disastrous for many small business.

"Local authorities should have local referendums to win public backing for these schemes," he said. "Without this, road charging will be illegitimate, just as it would be for a national scheme without the support of a public vote on the issue.

"Road taxes raise £45 billion per year for the Government but only £7bn is re-invested nationally in the roads, with far less than is required coming to Yorkshire. Motorists in the region are already being short-changed and more road capacity is needed. Instead of creating more tolls and laws the Government should be spending more on the transport network."

Mr Glen said small businesses could not make deliveries or take heavy tools and equipment on public transport. Nor, given their tight profit margins and heavy competition from larger firms, could they absorb road congestion charges or pass them on to their customers.

He says: "If introduced, road tolls could prove to be a huge knock to the region's economy and cost jobs. The Government needs to win public support for pilot schemes on a local level or risk causing real harm to some local economies without any proper mandate."

e-mail: mark.casci @bradford.newsquest.co.uk