CAMPAIGNERS for congestion charging in Edinburgh are bracing themselves for a crushing defeat in this week’s referendum in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

Supporters of the “yes” vote took to the streets yesterday in a last-ditch effort to mobilise support for the scheme, under which motorists would be charged £2 to enter the city.

However, senior figures running the campaign admit privately that they are well behind the “no” lobby and will have to stage a dramatic recovery if they hope to win the vote, which begins tomorrow.

Environmentalists and political activists have been handing out leaflets at venues across the city urging the public to vote in favour of the scheme, which they claim would transform the city by curbing traffic levels.

Nevertheless, the most recent polls suggest that they are fighting a losing battle.

One survey, published in the Edinburgh Evening News last week, found that 65% of residents oppose the initiative and only one in five supports it.

While most residents agreed that congestion is a problem in the city, they were not convinced that the solution favoured by the council would resolve the problem.

Critics of the scheme have argued that the introduction of road tolls would lead to a slump in property values in some of the capital’s most popular residential areas.

It has been claimed that attempts to dodge the charge would lead to some neighbourhoods being clogged with parked cars and others becoming “rat runs”.

Although a senior “yes” campaigner described these claims as “utter rubbish” he conceded that convincing voters to support the scheme was proving to be an uphill struggle.

“We have some catching up to do but we always knew this was going to a hard fight. It is difficult to convince people to vote for a charge,” he said.

Losing the vote would be a heavy blow for the Labour-run council, which has already spent an estimated £8m developing the plans, and for plans to introduce similar schemes in other Scottish cities.

Under the plan, motorists would be charged £2 when driving through two designated zones in the city.

An outer cordon would operate from 7am to 10am Monday to Friday and an inner cordon would run from 7am to 6.30pm.

It is estimated that the charge could raise £760m over a 20-year period with the money being used to fund transport improvement throughout the area.

The scheme also faces opposition from neighbouring local authorities.

Fife, Midlothian and West Lothian went to court last week to have the proposals quashed.

They argue that Edinburgh’s decision to exempt residents in suburbs to the west of the city is unfair because it discriminates against commuters from their areas who would be forced to pay the charge.

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