Car insurance customers are increasingly avoiding driving in London - as a result of the congestion charge, a new report suggests.

Figures from Transport for London show that the number of vehicles entering into the original congestion zone - as it was before it was expanded this year - has dropped by 70,000 vehicles over the period.

And the newly-introduced western expansion zone has seen traffic levels fall by around 15 per cent, the figures additionally reveal.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said that the measures had helped the city achieve its aims of reducing congestion, CO2 emissions and danger levels for pedestrians and cyclists.

"Now cities across the world are looking to London as an example in recognition of the fact that ours is the only major city in the world to have achieved a shift from the private car to public transport," he commented.