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The vote in Manchester was even more resounding than the one in Edinburgh’s referendum in 2005, when 74 per cent rejected a similar charging scheme on a 62 per cent turnout. The Government believed that it had a better chance in Manchester because it had made funding for new tram lines directly dependent on a yes vote. In Edinburgh, voters knew that they would get trams regardless of the result.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and a leading proponent of charging, said: “The issues have still not gone away. We still have congestion, poor air quality and poor public transport.

“The Transport Innovation Fund proposal is dead in the water, in its entirety. There is no plan B, which is why we will have to have a period of reflection.”

Stephen Joseph, director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Those who opposed the charge will now have to say how traffic problems in our cities can be addressed. It’s not possible or desirable to build enough roads for free-flowing traffic.”

‘No’ voter Michael Taylor, 63, told The Times: “I believe the whole thing has been an expensive charade,” he said.

“The problem was we were being asked to pay twice for services that we really should be receiving by right. Meanwhile, the public transport problems of Greater Manchester will remain unchanged.”

Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley in Manchester, a long-time opponent of the scheme, said: “You have to come up with an extremely good scheme whereby you reduce other road taxes if you ever want road pricing by consent in this country.”

The alternatives

The Manchester “no” vote makes these alternatives to congestion charging more likely:

Workplace parking levies
Nottingham is planning a £364 annual tax on business parking spaces

Rising bollards
Cambridge uses them to stop cars but allow buses to pass

Rephase traffic lights
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, is adding two seconds to the green phase for vehicles at the expense of pedestrians

Hard-shoulder running
The Government plans to allow vehicles to use the hard shoulder as a running lane on 500 miles of motorway. Already in use on the M42

Car-sharing lanes
The 60 per cent of cars that have one occupant are barred from these lanes, used in Bristol and Leeds in the morning rush-hour

Redesigned roads and junctions to eliminate “pinch points” that cause traffic queues

More school buses to get cars off the road

The privatising of assets such as Manchester airport, which is owned by the city council, with the money being used to fund the public transport proposals

Red routes to prevent vehicles stopping and blocking the road

Parking controls especially over private non-residential off-street parking

Reallocation of road space away from cars and towards cycling and buses

Road pricing for lorries with a charge per mile

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