DRIVERS may have to pay to travel to work and then pay to park at work.

"People need to realise that the days when you can drive whenever and wherever you wish have gone," said Bury Council leader Derek Boden.

The council is to ask local businesses what they think of possible new charges for parking and for using busy roads.

They have already held joint talks with leaders of the other Greater Manchester councils over powers given to them by the Government's new Transport Act.

Local authorities could impose charges on people who park in company car parks, or levy road tolls. The aim is to reduce congestion, encourage people out of their cars, and spend the revenue on improving public transport.

Councillor Boden said he was generally in favour of such proposals, depending on certain conditions. "Discussions will go on for some time before any such schemes emerge," he said. "But they are definitely on the agenda."

The Greater Manchester councils are among the first in the country to be formally considering such plans.

Coun Boden said there would have to be three conditions before any charges were introduced. These were: significant improvements to public transport, a "level playing field" of charges across Greater Manchester, and proper consultation.

"It's not going to prove popular, I understand that," he said.

"This is about raising revenue which can be invested in public transport, significantly reducing traffic congestion through a deliberate disincentive to travel by car."

Coun Boden said his own preference was for tolls on drivers using roads at peak times.

"The problem is not cars in car parks but the mayhem caused trying to get to them."

This would require vehicles to be fitted with transponders, as used in Canada and Australia, which would automatically log when motorists were driving on toll roads and send them the bill.