PLANS to charge high-polluting vehicles to drive into Newcastle city centre have moved a step closer after two more councils backed the proposals.

Coaches, buses, and lorries that do not meet environmental standards will be charged the maximum amount, with £12.50 fees for taxis and vans.

Private cars have been made exempt from the tolls for now, after the clean air zone (CAZ) plans were watered down, but that could change in the future.

Alongside the city centre charging zone, council bosses are planning to cut general traffic on the Tyne Bridge to one lane in each direction to deter people from driving – a move which drivers have warned will cause traffic chaos.

The final version of the CAZ  was agreed by Newcastle City Council earlier this month with North Tyneside Council’s cabinet voting to back the plans last week.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, Gateshead councillors joined their colleagues from across the Tyne in agreeing the measures.

The final version, or business case, has already been sent to Central Government, who will decide on the plans and what funding they will provide.

Gateshead councillor John McEloy, cabinet member for environment and transport, said it was “vitally important” to deal with air quality.

“It is an item that is vitally important for people’s health. It is a priority we have in Gateshead to improve air quality,” he said.

“We have designed a business plan and submitted it to the Government. We have been working with Defra and we are fairly confident they will agree with the proposals.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Jonathan Wallace, leader of the opposition, raised fears that the proposals would just lead to polluting vehicles moving to the Gateshead suburbs.

He said: “We feel it is more the case of moving the problem rather than solving it.

"If I was the bus operator I would move my clean buses to the clean air zone and my dirty buses to the suburbs, so it is moving the problem to the suburbs of Gateshead.”

Cllr Wallace also raised fears that charges for buses would hit poorer families in the pocket. He continued: “It will impact low income families who are more bus reliant, bus companies will increase fares.

“We need more park and ride schemes and to ask big employers to stagger their start and finish times to avoid rush hour and to at least allow clean electric vehicles to use bus lanes.”

Council leader Martin Gannon said the local authority would look at ways of improving access for electric vehicles. "We will take these issues on board, if there is any way of improving access for electric vehicles we will do so,” he responded.

“We do need to look at this particular set of measures as a response to a particular larger problem, which is the Government have been failing to comply with EU regulations and we have been instructed to come up with a set of proposals which can be implemented at the earliest opportunity with the least environmental impact.

“We’re looking at pace at the issues of improving the Metro system.”