THE government said today it was committed to local congestion charging schemes despite a lack of interest from towns and cities across the country.

Ten areas were originally given nearly £20m to prepare bids to the government's Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) - worth up to £200m a year to overhaul local trams, buses and trains.

Ministers made clear they expected the bids to include an element of local road-pricing.

And, nearly three years later, only Greater Manchester and Cambridge have submitted formal bids for TIF cash.

An announcement on those bids was expected by the middle of this month, but this has been put back.

That has led to speculation that the government was preparing rethink its TIF plans and look again at whether it should be conditional on congestion charging.

However, a spokesman for the Department for Transport said they were `pleased' to have two bids on the table.

He said: "We know congestion charging is not going to be the right solution for everywhere.

"The areas that were given pump-priming money who have decided it is not right for them have done work that will inform their thinking in tackling congestion in future.

"We are pleased to have two bids in from Cambridge and Greater Manchester. Bristol have also given us their interim proposals."

Norwich became the latest council to scrap plans for a TIF bid this week.

Transport chiefs in the West Midlands, once seen as Greater Manchester's biggest rivals for the money, have also said they will not be introducing road pricing.

Greater Manchester's 10 councils have put in a joint TIF bid for £1.2bn, plus permission to borrow £1.8bn more, in return for a peak-hour congestion charge of up to £5 a day at current prices.

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