TOMORROW is D-Day for the C-Charge - and support in Bury is among the lowest in Greater Manchester.

While the majority of local people are in favour of charging in return for £3 billion of transport investment, the margin is much smaller than elsewhere in the conurbation.

A poll by NOP shows that Greater Manchester people support the scheme, in principle, by 57 to 32 per cent - but only by 50 to 37 in Bury. And the gap comes down to just seven per cent when asked about the detailed scheme as it stands. Businesses approve the idea in principle by 47 to 38 per cent, but Bury firms reject it by 42 to 39, and by 60 to 33 on the exact details. However, both residents and employers are in favour of submitting a bid at this stage, but with further consultation to come.

Leaders of the ten Greater Manchester councils will decide tomorrow whether to bid for £3 billion under the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF). This will provide £1.2 billion from the government, with councils borrowing the rest and paying it back through a congestion charge.

Bury Council leader Bob Bibby is set to vote in favour of submitting a bid. "All three political parties supported the council resolution to back the bid," he said.

"The Conservative administration are opposed to the principle of congestion charging, but see the bid as a starting point for discussion."

Only one of the ten councils, Tory-run Trafford, has said it will vote against the bid tomorrow.

Under the current proposals, charges would apply only on weekdays: from 7am to 9.30am heading into Manchester, and from 4pm to 6.30pm going out. It would, at today's prices, be £2 to enter the outer zone and £1 the inner, and £1 to travel through each zone heading out, or up to £5 a day in total.

As the Bury Times revealed four weeks ago, Bury could be getting its own congestion charge in years to come. Bury, along with other towns in Greater Manchester, is being looked at under a future phase.

The project has met considerably less enthusiasm from members of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, which meets later tomorrow.

The Conservative group on the PTA has withdrawn its support, worried that taxpayers and motorists will be forced to plug a financial black hole in years to come. Bury's representatives on the PTA, both Lib Dems, are unhappy, and describe it as "transport on the never-never".

Party spokesman Vic D'Albert said: "The government is proposing a new on-going tax burden to commuters to pay for a decent transport system, surely something we deserve anyway.

"The common sense approach would be to improve public transport first, providing a first-rate, cheap, safe and efficient system, and then assess the impact. Only then should we consider introducing congestion charging, following a referendum of local people."