Londoners 'to be clobbered hardest by car tax rises'

Motorists in London and the South-East will be hardest hit by Gordon Brown's road tax rises, according to analysis by the Conservatives.

Among drivers facing the biggest increases, nearly one million are from the capital and Home Counties. They will be clobbered with rises in vehicle excise duty totalling more than £ 220million over three years, say the Tories.

"As ever, Londoners will bear the brunt of this Government's taxgrabbing instincts," said shadow Treasury minister Justine Greening.

The Government has sparked fury with its plans to radically reform the road tax system and replace the existing seven bands with 13.

Among the worst hit are people who registered cars in Band F between spring 2001 and March 2006 - this year they face a charge of £210.

Current Band F cars will next year fall into the four new top categories and their tax will rise to between £270 and £455 by 2010-11.

The Conservatives said drivers in London and the South-East would be the worst affected as they owned a greater proportion of Band F cars - which include family models such as the Citroën C8, VW Passat and Renault Espace.

They claim that 377,333 Londoners in Band F will see their tax jump by a total of £87.8 million in the next three years. This equates to £232 extra per person, the highest across the country. The South-East comes second at £228 per person, with 582,937 people hit by Band F rises to the tune of £133.3 million.