UK Motorists could face £20 spot fines if they leave their engines running while stuck in traffic in a bid to cut pollution from exhaust fumes. The ruling which is being piloted in January will see Traffic wardens issuing the penalties to idle (sorry for the pun) motorists.

A pilot scheme is due to be launched in January in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and will be expanded if it proves successful. West Sussex Council said it would target areas where exhaust emissions build up unnecessarily, such as rail crossings and town centres.

AA spokesman Paul Watters said: 'We hope councils will not adopt a heavy-handed attitude with this. There is a huge difference between running the engine for less than a minute at the traffic lights and idling for a quarter of an hour. 

Hypermiler.co.uk certainly agrees that turning off in traffic jams is a great way of cutting fuel bills and pollution but I honestly can not see how this would or could be sufficiently policed.