Over half of small businesses oppose the idea of a pay-as-you-drive road-pricing scheme and fear they would have to increase prices as a result.

According to a survey by Alliance & Leicester, 86% of the UK‘s small businesses said they relied on road travel and 68% would oppose the introduction of any scheme that charges people for the amount they use the roads.

Over half (62%) also said they felt profits would be adversely affected by such a move.

“Small businesses need to think hard about how they are going to prepare themselves for road pricing,” said Steve Jennings, director of business banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank.

“For many, simply passing the cost onto customers or reducing their customer base is not going to solve the problem of road pricing, especially when we know that consumers are already reining in their spending as interest rates are at their highest level in six years,” he added.

The poll also revealed that businesses are worried about the impact such a scheme would have on their customers, with 28% saying they feared consumers would stay local as a result rather than driving to out-of-town companies.

It also claimed that small companies do not see congestion as a big problem, with over half of those questioned saying this does not affect their business.

Just 17% said they wasted a significant amount of time due to traffic gridlock on the road.