He may be the most powerful Tory in the country, but even Boris Johnson is not above the rules of the road.

Having faced criticism in the past for failing to wear a helmet when whizzing around the capital on his much-loved bicycle, the accident-prone Mayor of London today revealed that he had also found himself in trouble behind the wheel of his car.

Mr Johnson labelled the city’s congestion charging system “wretched” and “crazy” after he was fined for failing to pay the daily charge for London’s central area.

“I got done by my own system and I forgot to pay and then bing! I got the £60 fine. I have just coughed up,” he said.

Drivers are charged £8 each day for travelling into the city’s central district, but are fined if they do not pay within a 48-hour window.

Mr Johnson said that his experience highlighted the need for an “account-based” way of administering congestion charges.

He revealed that he had been fined in response to a question from a listener during a radio phone-in on BBC London.

The listener had reminded Mr Johnson about a promise he had made to increase the time period for paying the charge from a “48-hour window” to a month.

“You are absolutely right, I did say that,” he said.

“I had totally forgotten that.”

He promised that a better system, based on accounts, would be introduced when the technology became available.

“That would get away from the crazy system whereby you suddenly get clobbered by these fines,” he added.

Mr Johnson had driven into the congestion zone on December 22 to light the Hanukkah Menorah at Trafalgar Square.

In November, Mr Johnson announced that the western extension of the London congestion charge area would be scrapped, although the earliest it will be removed is spring 2010.

The congestion charge, originally covering just central London, was introduced in February 2003, with the western extension added in February 2007, including areas such as Kensington and Chelsea.

Times Recommends

• Phoebe Caldwell wins Times/Sternberg Award
• Raging against fake pop has its own pitfalls
• How a voice for everyone led to stalemate