THE North-East should be a front-runner in introducing road pricing in the UK, according to a report by an influential think-tank.

Such a scheme could tackle congestion hot spots within the region without the need for expensive road building, says the Northern arm of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

It suggests that a pilot scheme should be set up in the North-East, before being rolled out nationally, and cash generated from it be used to fund public transport improvements.

Its report, At The Crossroads?, said the region should put much greater emphasis on developing a transport policy that tackles poverty and deprivation, instead of giving priority to major road and rail schemes, such as widening stretches of the A1.

Key recommendations from the report include:

* A regional concessionary fares scheme to cut across county and council boundaries;

* The creation of a new Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) for the Tees Valley, joining the PTE for Tyne and Wear;

* Powers over strategic roads and funding to be decentralised from the Government and given to the PTEs;

* A single regional housing, planning and transport board be created to tackle common problems and more effectively channel investment.

John Adams, director of research at IPPR North, said: "If a national road-user charging scheme were introduced, computer modelling produced for IPPR show that the North-East would see one of the biggest impacts on traffic growth - only London would see a bigger impact on traffic growth.

"The North-East led the country when congestion charging was introduced in Durham, and it should push to be a front-runner for road-user charging."

IPPR North said that a road pricing scheme could cut traffic in the North-East by nine per cent.

It would be expected to use computer technology installed on major roads and in cars, which would monitor the number of miles travelled and impose an appropriate charge.

The body's report also highlighted how the costs of public transport - which is mostly used by the poorest in society - had risen much more sharply than the costs of private motoring over the past 20 odd years.

It urged that public transport operators be encouraged to "invest and innovate" in their networks.