ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

The boss of Transport for London today put drivers on notice that private cars “do not have a long-term future” in the centre of the capital.

Transport Commissioner Mike Brown said that in the “medium to long term there is a major question to be asked about whether they should be in a central city area in a city that is designed and laid out the way London’s streets are”.

In an interview in the Standard, he added: “It’s really not the best way to be travelling around the city.”

His comments are the clearest indication yet that transport authorities are starting to plan for a largely car-free future in the capital’s heavily congested and polluted heart.

However, Mr Brown conceded that black cabs and mini­cabs, including ride-hailing apps, would continue to “have a role to play” after private vehicles have been banned.

Mr Brown, who is standing down in May after five years as commissioner, also wants big reductions in car use in the rest of London.