EDINBURGH Council is to consider imposing tolls on vehicles entering the city centre and levying an £800 charge on city centre company parking spaces. The proposals are part of a raft of measures designed to raise money for solutions to the city's traffic problems.

Although most of the schemes would need central Government approval, the city's new unitary council is examining what amounts to autonomous revenue-raising projects to supplement whatever funding is available from the national transport purse or via the Private Finance Initiative.

In a report by the council's city development department transportation committee, members concluded that current and future funding would not meet Edinburgh's transport needs. Among the proposed measures are a tax on Edinburgh's 10,000 company parking spaces, a special licence for driving within the city centre, tolls for driving into the city centre and a levy on all car sales within a defined area.