Yet over the last four years, the scheme has been generally accepted. London is the biggest city in the world to charge such a toll and city chiefs from around the globe have flocked to see if it might be a good for them.

The widening of the collection net to the posh enclaves of Chelsea, Kensington and Knightsbridge will more than double the zone's size, but it has sparked opposition from residents and businesses.

The eight-pound (16-dollar, 12-euro) charge is levied on those entering the zone between 7:00am and 6:00pm from Monday to Friday. A ring of cameras reads each car number plate and a central computer checks whether the charge has been paid.

Only 24 percent of people in the expansion zone favour introducing the congestion charge in their area, according to one survey.

But Livingstone, a former far-left winger who was known as "Red Ken", has refused to back down.

"Congestion charging has reduced traffic in central London by around 20 percent and is hailed as a success around the world," he said.

"It has also delivered real improvements to air quality, reduced carbon dioxide emissions, enhanced safety for pedestrians and cyclists and improved the reliability of the bus network.

Cash raised by the charge has funded improvements to the bus service and there has been a 72 percent increase in the number of cyclists on London's major roads since 2000.

The reduction in traffic jams -- down 30 percent in the first year -- has tailed off. But "without congestion charging, central London would almost certainly have ground to a halt by now," the mayor insisted.

Traffic jams could become more common in the centre with the extra toll zones, according to Transport for London (TfL), the body responsible for the capital's transport system.

People living in the new zone will benefit from a 90-percent reduction in the cost of an annual permit, which could incite them to drive into central London more often, TfL says.

The US embassy is certainly not happy about the congestion charge.

Diplomats refuse to pay it and have racked up over one million pounds (two million dollars, 1.5 million euros) in unpaid bills.

Angola and Nigeria are among the others refusing to cough up.

Gordon Taylor, chairman of the West London Residents' Association, said it was an "entirely political measure" on the part of Livingstone, simply to squeeze some extra cash out of a rich area.

"It's a residential area with mainly small shops and hotels that are much more dependent on people coming in their cars (than central London)," he told AFP.

"It's the most expensive system in the world and the least effective."

The westwards extension should cost 105 million pounds (205 million dollars, 155 million euros) and earn 140-180 million pounds per year, say TfL.

Business organisation London First wanted a more flexible system, such as the one in Singapore, which only operates during hours of traffic.

Luke Bosdet, a spokesman for the Automobile Association, Britain's largest motoring organisation, slammed the congestion charge zone expansion.

"It's a policy that sees motorists as cash cows. Failures are happening too often," he told AFP.

Next the London mayor has his sights set on an additional tax on the most polluting vehicles entering the zone, with 4x4 drivers -- regularly demonised by Livingstone -- mooted to be in line for a 25 pounds per day charge.

Taking their cue from London's experiment, the British government plans to introduce nationwide road pricing and satellite vehicle tracking systems.

But an online petition against it on the prime minister's office website has around 1.5 million signatories.

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