Traffic congestion in Brighton and Hove has risen by 8.9 per cent since 1997 prompting claims the Government is failing to get people on to public transport.

Latest figures revealed motorists travelled 1.42 billion km on the city's roads in 2003 - up from 1.3 billion in 1997.

The picture of increasingly clogged roads was worse across the rest of Sussex.

East Sussex had a 9.4 per cent rise, from 3.94 billion km a year in 1997 to 4.31 billion in 2003. West Sussex had a 9.3 per cent increase, from 6.88 billion km to 7.5 billion.

The Department for Transport statistics were seized on by the Liberal Democrats.

John Thurso, the Lib Dem transport spokesman, said the continued growth in congestion gave weight to calls for charging schemes which have been claimed a success in London and Durham to be rolled out nationally.

Mr Thurso said: "The Government should be offering a structured and well thought out plan for national road charging, not the piecemeal solutions of the past."

The rise in traffic was disclosed as transport chiefs in West Sussex were hailed as an "excellent example" by local transport minister Charlotte Atkins.

West Sussex County Council was one of 17 authorities to be awarded centre of excellence status for its track record on delivering transport improvements.

Steve Percy, chairman of the Brighton lobby group the People's Parking Protest, said: "It's not the Government that is failing to get people on public transport, it is the local authorities.

"They are feeding more money into parking in order to make more money."

Councillor Craig Turton, deputy chairman of the city environment committee, said: "The council will continue to help provide alternative travel choices through major projects such as park-and-ride and rapid transport that will help people get around without the car."

Thursday March 3, 2005