Business owners have reacted angrily to council proposals to charge ‘workplace parking levies' of up to £350 a year for staff to use company parking spaces.

Companies are likely to bear the majority of the coast, but the Department for Transport has left open the possibility that the drivers could be made legally liable for the charge.

Under the proposals the Transport Secretary would have to approve any new parking scheme, but once this had been given councils would be free to implement it and increase charges at their discretion.

"We are very concerned about the temptation to extend the use of what is essentially a stealth tax on business," said David Frost of the British Chamber of Commerce.

Nottingham recently became the first city in the UK to propose a workplace levy scheme, despite strong opposition from local businesses.