Motorists paying "excessive" green taxe

Soaring motoring taxes mean that individuals are paying nearly £300 a year each more than they should, a report has found.

It estimates that drivers paid the £31.5 billion raised from drivers in 2009 not only dwarfs the amount spent on roads but also the environmental cost of motoring.

The figures by the Taxpayers’ Alliance will be rekindle the debate over motoring taxes ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement later this month.

Under current Government plans, drivers are facing two fuel duty rises next year worth around seven pence a litre.

According to the Alliance census data showed that those living in rural areas, who rely on their cars and drive further, were hit far harder than city-dwellers.

While in Camden, in central London, the excess was £64, in Maldon, Essex and the Shetland Isles, the gap was £566.

In the same year the Government spent £9.9 billion on roads. Using calculations the Government used to price carbon used in aviation, the Alliance calculated that the value of road transport emissions was £3.5 billion. In 2009 motorists contributed £31.5 billion to the Treasury in Vehicle Excise and Fuel Duty, both of which are classified as “green taxes” by Government statisticians.