Britain to explore road-pricing technology

LONDON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The British government is said to be pushing ahead with plans for a national road-pricing scheme that includes testing "spy in the sky" technology.

Eight areas of the country have been selected by government ministers for trying out a black box system to track motorists, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

The British newspaper says the test is designed to pave the way for tolls of up to $2.60 a mile during peak periods on Britain's busiest roads.

Areas selected for trials in 2010 are Leeds, North Yorkshire, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, south and west London, Suffolk and Essex, the Telegraph said.

Conservatives have condemned the toll plan and called on Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to abandon it.

Disclosure of the trials is raising fears that motorists in Britain will be hit with another increase in driving taxes.

British drivers already pay some of the highest taxes in the world.