A PHARMACEUTICAL company is offering all staff £2 a day to leave their cars at home. Kent-based Pfizer has organised subsidised bus and train services and says staff are also making use of new cycle lanes. The company, which employs about 5,000 people at its Sandwich site, has also been running a pilot scheme for 'parking cashout' and hopes the system will go live in May.

John Elliott, transport and planning manager, said: 'It costs Pfizer more than £2 a day to provide a parking space - for the security, planting, lighting, white line painting and so on - so in that way it's cost neutral. There will also be a 'dead' cost for those people who never came to work by car - they will now be entitled to the £2.' Staff will have to pay tax on the scheme, but Elliott said he did not think it would discourage them from leaving their cars at home.

The new security system will monitor the ratio of people to cars in the building so the success of the project can be measured. Pfizer operates a 2,000-strong car fleet, of which 450 have entitlement to opt for a cash alternative. Elliott is among the 30% who have opted for a cash alternative.