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Zac Goldsmith has said all bus lanes will vanish within three years if he wins his race to be London mayor.

The Tory candidate prompted bafflement with the shock announcement in a radio debate.

Millionaire eco-campaigner Mr Goldsmith said he would allow electric cars to use the special lanes in Britain's gridlocked capital as an 'incentive' to buy them.

He then said the cars will become popular so fast there will be 'no point' having bus lanes at all.

That will mean London's cyclists, 5 million bus passengers and 9,000 buses each day will have to contend with millions of cars on the capital's 675 routes.

Labour candidate Sadiq Khan - the son of a bus driver - said his rival's grand idea was unrealistic.

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(Image: PA)

He tweeted: "I want to see more people switching to electric cars, but suggestions we’ll be able to scrap bus lanes soon aren't grounded in reality."

Mr Goldsmith made the comments in an interview today with LBC Radio's Nick Ferrari.

He said: "This is a question I've put to people in TfL who will give me chapter and verse as to why that can't happen.

"I cant think of any reason why in the short term, in the immediate term as a perk, as an incentive to get people driving electric cars, this shouldn't happen.

"But I think that if I’m right, and I am absolutely convinced I am, that we are going to see a massive shift in the type of cars that people own, then within two or three years there will be no point having bus lanes because everyone's going to be be driving these things around.

"I think when you provide convenience to people, that is the biggest incentive of all."