CONGESTION charging for York was today virtually dead in the water, following a resounding vote against such a move by the people of Edinburgh.

The first British referendum on road charging, held this week in the Scottish capital, resulted in a 3-1 no vote.

On a turn-out of 62 per cent, almost three quarters of voters rejected the proposals to charge motorists £2 to enter Edinburgh in a bid to counter worsening traffic congestion.

Supporters said the scheme would have generated revenue to pump into better public transport, but opponents said it would have damaged the economy and pushed traffic into residential areas.

Observers say the result would make it very difficult for councils elsewhere to bring in such charging.

The Evening Press revealed last year how City of York Council officers had secretly investigated imposing tolls on bridges over the River Ouse to cut congestion and improve air quality.

Their investigations reportedly ended in 2003 after the Liberal Democrats came to power, having pledged not to introduce congestion charging.

According to a source, officers calculated the impact of a £1 toll on Lendal, Ouse and Skeldergate Bridges, and concluded that it could cut through traffic sufficiently to clear congestion.

They also found it would cost about £1 million to introduce, but in turn would raise the council £7 million in revenue.

Coun Ann Reid, City of York Council's executive member for transport, said today that the Liberal Democrat's pledge not to bring in congestion charging remained in place while they were in power.

She said that rather than using such "punitive" measures to reduce congestion, the authority's approach was to encourage motorists not to want to use their cars by improving public transport, in particular through the Park & Ride system. York already had five such schemes, with another in the pipeline.

Updated: 08:48 Thursday, February 24, 2005