COUNCILS bordering Edinburgh are to make a joint legal effort to block the Scottish capital’s planned road toll scheme.

West Lothian, Fife and Midlothian councils have warned they will mount a legal challenge unless Edinburgh rethinks the congestion charge, which they claim will discriminate against commuters from their areas.

Under the scheme, due to be launched in 2006, two cordons would be set up around the city — one inside the capital’s ring road, the other around the city centre. Motorists would be charged £2 per day to cross either of the boundaries.

However, the local authority has decided to exempt people from outlying parts of the city from paying the charge to cross the outer cordon.

While the charge would be waved for residents of Currie, Balerno, South Queensferry, Kirkliston and Juniper Green, drivers from West Lothian, Midlothian and Fife would be forced to pay.

Neighbouring councils have claimed the exemption is unfair and claim their residents, many of whom work in Edinburgh, are being penalised.

The local authorities, which have taken legal advice, believe they stand a good chance of blocking the scheme if it is approved by Edinburgh residents in a referendum next February. They point to the public inquiry into the congestion scheme, published last month, which warned that exempting certain residents could place the entire proposal in jeopardy.

The report, which suggested that the scheme could be rejected as unfair by the Scottish executive, stated: “What ought to be fatal to the scheme in its present draft form is the exemption for residents of the council area outwith the outer cordon.”

Edinburgh council officials and the firm developing the plan have also warned that the exemption could be challenged.

Willie Dunn, the deputy leader of West Lothian council, said: “City leaders are between a rock and a hard place. Politically, it is difficult for them to charge their own taxpayers who live outside the second cordon but the legislation is quite clear. Any scheme has to be fair.

“If the council wins this referendum and the Scottish executive does not step in, then we will pursue legal action and will be taking advice on when to start any action.”

West Lothian council is planning to hold its own referendum on the scheme to coincide with the Edinburgh ballot. Residents will be asked the same questions so that the council has a clear picture of their views.

The councils have joined a growing list of groups opposed to the toll scheme, which includes health chiefs and retailers who claim the tolls would cause a £38m annual slump in business.

There has also been anger that MSPs who live in Edinburgh will be exempt from the charges because the parliament is outside the inner congestion charging zone. The anomaly has been condemned as motoring “apartheid”.

Final approval to take the congestion-charging scheme to a referendum is expected at the next full council meeting later this week. The vote is expected to be held on February 7 with the result due to be announced on February 22.

Edinburgh council leaders plan to write to Scottish ministers ahead of the poll to win government support for the controversial exemption.

The local authority is spending £600,000 to stage the referendum, while a further £600,000 is being ploughed into a public information campaign designed to deliver a victory in next year’s poll.

Every voter in the city will be sent a glossy brochure explaining that the tolls will pay for a third tram line for the city, an expansion of the bus network and the creation of new park-and-ride sites.

Councillor Andrew Burns, who heads the city’s transport committee, said the proposal offered a “once in a generation” opportunity to improve the city. “Future generations will not thank us if we fail to act now,” he added.

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