Ahead of the upcoming rail strike next week the AA has said that road charges should be waived to ease the burden on drivers.

Half of Britain’s rail lines will be closed during strikes on June 21, 23 and 25 by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), while Transport for London (TfL) “strongly encouraged” people not to travel on London Underground on June 21 because of a 24-hour walkout by the RMT and Unite.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, AA president Edmund King said parking charges, congestion and clean air zones, as well as unnecessary road works, should all be suspended across those dates in order to prevent some areas becoming “ghost towns”.

He told the paper: “If there are no trains whatsoever coming into Glasgow and Edinburgh, for instance, and people have to go about their business, there could be a case for suspending parking charges for the duration of the strike.

Surrey Comet: Edmund King (AA/PA)Edmund King (AA/PA)

“Otherwise there is the danger of some areas becoming ghost towns.

“It will only be those people where getting to work is absolutely essential who will use the roads. More people will work from home and record fuel prices will put off some people anyway.

“Those factors will mitigate some of the extra congestion but there still will be shift workers, and low-paid NHS workers for whom going by car and cycling will be the only options.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Thursday warned those embarking on the three days of walkouts that they “risk striking yourselves out of a job”.

He also stated that the Government plans to introduce legislation to enable the use of agency workers on the railways during industrial action “if the strike drags on”.

Mr Shapps said: “These strikes are not only a bid to derail reforms that are critical to the network’s future, and designed to inflict damage at the worst possible time, they are also an incredible act of self-harm by the union leadership.”