INDUSTRY giants representing more than half a million people in Greater Manchester have come out in favour of the congestion charge.

The Co-op and the TUC have pledged their support for the bid to create two toll zones and secure nearly £3bn of transport funding from the government.

They bring the total number of employers in support of the Yes Campaign to 225.

Other organisations revealed today as backing the campaign included Norwich Union, House of Fraser, Manchester Metropolitan University and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's Fresh Retail Ventures.

Voting papers go out to the public on Monday and the ballot will close on December 11.

The economic crisis has been cited as the key reason to back the scheme. Alan Manning, north-west regional secretary of the TUC, described the proposals from the government's Transport Innovation Fund as 'a copper-bottomed insurance policy for the region as the country faces deep recession'.

Transport

He said: "The £3bn investment in out transport system will create 10,000 new jobs and will provide a major boost for the local economy. The TUC feels that this investment is more important now than it has ever been."

Lynda Shillaw, managing director of Co-operative Estates, said the business was backing the charge plans on environmental and ethical grounds.

She said: "An investment in improvements to public transport, cycling and walking, and greater control of our road network, will pay environmental dividends for generations to come. And in these difficult economic times it will be a boon to employment in the region."

The Co-op's board of directors has taken the decision to back the charge, without consultation with its 11,000 Greater Manchester workers.

A spokesman said that many support the scheme because they use buses, trains and trams to get to work.

He said: "We are not trying to tell out workers how to vote. This is our stance and we feel it's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve public transport."

The bid would see more than £2.75bn ploughed into transport schemes, including £318m to set up a peak hour, weekday-only congestion charge.

Some £1.2bn of the total would be in the form of a loan, paid back over 30 years out of profits from the charge.

The Conservative leader of Trafford council, Susan Williams, is the latest panellist to be confirmed for the M.E.N's debate on the congestion charge. The two-hour debate will take place in the M.E.N. offices at No 1 Scott Place a week tomorrow at 6pm.

To apply to attend the debate, email debates@men-news.co.uk

Follow the Congestion charge debate live online.
Put your questions and comments to the panel and follow the debate with live streaming video at the aptly named Mancunian Way blog from 6pm on Wednesday, November 26. Click here.