The deputy mayor of London has called for the congestion charge to be extended to include every street within the M25.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Green Party assembly member Jenny Jones argued that as the principle of road pricing has been established in the Capital, Londoners are ready for a bigger zone.

Jones, who has been number two to Ken Livingstone since June last year, says that the mayor was right to start a year ago with a small zone in the city centre but that this now need to be rapidly stretched.

"I have supported this right from the beginning," she told this website. "It was not the scheme I wanted to see but I think it was an act of political bravery to do it at all.

"I accept that for him it was the right thing to do. But I think equally now people have seen what a success it is it is possible to extend it and extend it much further than he is planning at the moment.

"The original plan was for a much, much bigger zone. This central zone is actually quite small and so the impacts aren't felt very far.

"I personally would like to see a charging zone out to the M25. You would then have three separate zones within that, the more expensive zone being in the centre where the public transport is much better."

Jones also says that the work of the assembly, in which she is one of three Green members, has been "pioneering" in terms of its environmental credentials.

"People who have been watching us from the very beginning and who were watching the legislation going through parliament before the assembly and before the authority was established, have said that they are quite astonished at how green so much of our work is," she said.

"And they meant particularly the assembly I think, in terms of its scrutiny work.

"Their opinion was that having three greens here has more or less panicked other parties into brushing up their green credentials."