Madrid’s new conservative mayor has provoked outrage by moving immediately to suspend a low-emission scheme that had reduced traffic and air pollution in the Spanish capital.

Popular Party (PP) Mayor Jose Martinez-Almeida, who secured his position on the weekend at the helm of a coalition, on Tuesday began to dismantle Madrid Central, a scheme that only allows electric vehicles and residents’ cars unlimited access to the city centre.

The move was criticised by environmentalists who claim it would set up a clash with EU, while undoing restrictions that had made the fume-choked city more liveable.

Under Madrid Central low-emission vehicles are permitted do as they please in the city centre, while petrol or diesel cars cannot park on ordinary streets but must instead find car-parks.

“It’s a failure and we are going to start to change the model with a moratorium on fines, starting on July 1,” Mr Martínez-Almeida said on local radio station Onda Madrid.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a politician in PP, said the traffic was an important part of Madrid. "It is a sign identity of our city, that the street is always alive," she told El País.