Places like Birmingham, York and Bristol are all talking about imposing radical bans on some or all cars in their city centres.

Yet Newcastle’s plans to cut dangerous levels of air pollution caused by traffic were watered-down last year so that private cars will be exempt from the daily tolls of a new Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

Instead, the CAZ will hit coaches, vans, lorries, buses, and taxis with daily fees.

Critics have called the failure to penalise car owners “counter-productive and cowardly”, particularly as buses will be charged £50 per day to drive into the city centre from 2021 if they do not meet environmental standards.