Labour has quietly approved road-building schemes worth more than double the Tory programme that sparked mass protests by environmentalists in the early 1990s.

The traffic generated by the £13 billion of new highways will add 1m tons of carbon dioxide to Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions every year, according to new research estimates.

The findings highlight the reversal in Labour’s policy over the past 10 years.

The party came to power in 1997 with a list of green promises, and John Prescott, who had responsibility for transport, scrapped many Tory schemes. But Transport 2000, the lobby group that carried out the new study, said the government had now revived many of them.

“Labour have been very clever about this,” said Rebecca Lush, roads campaigner for the group. “The Tories had a single budget for road-building, so their spending was visible, but under Labour there are several different funding streams, so it’s hard to piece together.”

In the study, to be featured on BBC1’s Countryfile programme at 11.40am today, Transport 2000 brought together several road-building budgets. They include the 113 schemes funded through the Highways Agency at a cost of £11.4 billion and the 61 local roads being built by councils but whose £1.3 billion cost is being met by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The amounts are further confused by how they are financed, with some paid directly by taxpayers and others through the private finance initiative.

More than 20 other major schemes are being considered by the Highways Agency.

The most controversial projects planned include the A628 Mot-tram-Tintwistle bypass in the Peak District national park and the Weymouth relief road in Dorset.

New roads are also planned or being built in the Lake District and Norfolk Broads national parks, while the Welsh assembly is planning a new toll motorway across the Gwent levels near Newport, a nationally important landscape for wildlife.

Julian Branscombe, chief executive of the Gwent Wildlife Trust, said: “Ten per cent of the Gwent levels would be directly affected, but nowhere would be out of sight and sound of the motorway.”

Meanwhile councils in England have been ordered to draw up five-year local transport plans. The latest versions list more than 100 schemes costing at least £5m each.

When it was in opposition, Labour repeatedly attacked the Tories for the “extravagance” of a road-building programme worth around £6 billion. After 1997 Prescott accompanied his cuts with pledges to promote public transport, cycling and walking. Those were dropped and Labour’s policies now promote traffic growth.

The Transport 2000 study says DfT officials can bend the rules to make any road proposal seem a good investment.

The Transport Analysis Guidance rules, which govern how officials assess potential benefits, instruct them to award more points to new road plans because the extra traffic generated will burn more fuel and so raise extra Vat and fuel duty.

The guidance also undermines public transport schemes, stating: “Options that increase public transport use are likely to lead to a reduction in tax revenue because public transport fares are zero rated for Vat.”

A DfT spokesman said: “The government retains a strong presumption against new or expanded transport infrastructure which would affect environmentally sensitive sites.

“There will, however, be a few cases in which the overriding public interest means a scheme should proceed.”

Useful links

www.theaa.com/travelwatch/travel_news.jsp

trafficmap.co.uk

www.rac.co.uk/web/trafficnews

www.highways.gov.uk/traffic

www.keepmoving.co.uk

www.getmethere.co.uk

Telephone nos:

The AA - live updates 24 hours a day 09003 401 100 (401 100 from mobile)

Highways agency - open 24 hours a day 08700 660115

RAC - dial 1740

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