Livingstone: Smooth day

Ken Livingstone has hailed the introduction of London's congestion charge as a success.

Addressing journalists on day two of the new £5-a-day charge, the mayor said: "Yesterday was much more successful than any of us had expected."

He said C-Day had been a "remarkably smooth running day".

But he informed reporters that initial estimates predict that 10,000 drivers failed to pay the fee and are set to receive penalty notices by the end of this week.

Livingstone said that the introduction of the charge had led to a 25 per cent reduction in traffic within the zone.

"Traffic is slightly up today but still well down on normal," he said.

On Monday there were 190,000 vehicles within the charging zone - compared to an average of 250,000 on a normal day.

"I very much feared we would see a much smaller reduction," said Livingstone.

The mayor also welcomed signs that traffic was not being displaced to the area around the zone.

"I very much feared there would be rat running and there was no rat running around the zone."

He also claimed that "all channels for payment worked well".