A Shropshire man’s petition against pay-as-you-drive road pricing proposals has ended after almost 1.8 million people registered their support on the Downing Street website.

The campaign, started in November by Telford accounts manager Peter Roberts, pictured, ended at midnight.

Today he declared he would continue his efforts to see the policy scrapped.

He said: “They are still testing pricing by rolling it out in cities to see how it works.”

A road-pricing scheme is planned for the West Midlands and a congestion charging scheme is being considered for Shrewsbury.

Prime Minister Tony Blair today e-mailed supporters of the petition outlining why the Government intended to press ahead with the trials.

He said a solution to congestion was needed and road pricing had to be considered.

He insisted it would not invade people’s privacy.

“This is not about imposing ‘stealth taxes’ or introducing ‘Big Brother’ surveillance,” he said.

But Mr Roberts believes neither congestion charging or road pricing will tackle congestion and says the Government is ignoring sensible alternatives.

“Even the London charge, which is a ring-fenced system, will have systems which track the vehicle in and out of the zone,” he said.

“So you have still got to have a pretty good idea of where the vehicles are. You cannot run a road pricing system without some form of surveillance.”

Mr Roberts’s website is at www.traveltax.org