Mayor - new C-charge is legal

The London mayor's office has said existing laws enabled the authority to introduce a higher congestion charge on polluting vehicles.

Luxury car maker Porsche has said it would seek a judicial review of Transport for London's decision to expand the controversial Congestion Charge to £25 for certain vehicles. It has previously said the increase from the existing £8 charge for cars emitting the most gases was unfair.

The Reuters news agency cited a spokeswoman for the mayor as saying: "Porsche's claim that it is illegal for the mayor to introduce this policy is wrong. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 gives the mayor the power to do this.

"Porsche has a vested interest in seeking to prevent London government from exercising its powers to improve the environment. Surveys show a big majority of Londoners support a higher congestion charge for the most CO2 emitting vehicles. The mayor will contest this action vigorously," she added.

The new charging structure - which starts on October 27th 2008 - will see drivers of the least polluting cars receiving a discount, while those in the higher-polluting vehicles will pay the increased fee with no discount for residency.

It will apply to vehicles emitting more than 225 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre, as well as those registered before March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000 cc.

Vehicles that emit less than 120g of carbon dioxide per kilometre will get a 100 per cent discount.