Official congestion figures appear to support the case for a congestion charge in Manchester, a number of businesses have argued.

The department for transport's latest traffic data show that average traffic speeds during the morning rush hour on the major routes around the city-region average 13 mph.

This is the slowest average speed in the country and backs up research by Keepmoving.co.uk that shows Manchester is one of Europe's slowest-moving cities.

The 2007 study found that Manchester is the second-worst city in Britain for traffic flow after London and the fourth-worst in Europe.

United City, a 90-strong lobby group that endorses the £2.7 billion Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid, says this is proof that congestion needs to be improved and public transport overhauled.

Ken Knott, founder member of United City, told Crain's Manchester Business magazine that the TIF bid is the "only way" that the city-region can access investment that is needed to bring the transport network up to standard.