A £2 BILLION transport fund, sitting unused in Whitehall, must be released immediately to tackle the scandal of a lack of spending in the region, MPs will say today.

Strict rules that stop local councils grabbing the cash unless they first agree to introduce “congestion charging” should be ripped up, the all-party transport committee said.

Its hard-hitting report urged ministers to recognise that plans for pay-as-you-drive “road-pricing” are a "mess" in the teeth of fierce opposition from the public.

Meanwhile, town hall proposals to cut road congestion – including light-rail schemes, such as Merseytram – are on ice, because of a lack of funding from government.

The issue is particularly controversial in the North West which, the report reveals, is starved of transport cash in comparison to the rest of the country – and, in particular, London and Scotland.

Comparing spending-per-head, the region receives 86% of the UK average, a fraction of the outlay in London (195%) and Scotland (162%).

There is a similar gulf in capital investment, which over the five years to 2008 rose by a puny 16% in the North West – but by far more in London (80%) and Scotland (174%).