Whatever your views on privatisation generally are, there is one part of the national infrastructure that has proved a no-go area for would-be privatisers in Whitehall: our roads.

Of course, behind any private company running our key motorways lies the prospect of tolls. And there are very few motorists in Britain who believe they should be paying more to use their vehicles.

As many of our European breakdown cover customers have found, tolls are a fairly common and expensive addition to drivers' transport costs on the continent – and few wish to see the same development in the UK.

One of the key battlegrounds in the war against tolls has been the A14 in East Anglia, where a toll system had been proposed. However, that 25 mile stretch of road will be toll free, the idea having been dropped by the government in December.

But the spectre of tolls has haunted hard-up motorists across the UK – until now. Robert Goodwill, Transport Minister, lived up to his name by categorically stating that the government would no longer pursue tolling, and the Tories would not bring it back after any Election victory.

Mr Goodwill said that after the scrapping of the A14 toll, it had drawn a “very clear line in the sand that we’re not going to go down that route.”

Prior to this statement, the government had side-stepped the question of whether or not other road tolls would be set up in the future, stating instead that no other toll plans were being actively considered.

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