The perk of the chauffeur driven car for government ministers is set to become a thing of the past after the new coalition government unveiled plans for a radical shake-up of the system.

The new Prime Minister, David Cameron, is vowing that ministers in his government will be ditching the chauffeur and heading to the tube in an attempt to cut spending.

The new measures were announced by treasury member David Laws. He estimates that by slashing the use of chauffeur driven cars for ministers £2.8 million will be saved from the £8.3 million which is currently being spent on car services for the government.

With the introduction of these tighter rules on ministerial cars usage, government officials will only have the use of a car and chauffeur in exceptional circumstances.

However these rules will not apply to the highest ranking government officials such as the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and several others who will continue to be chauffeured while on official duty for security reasons.

There’s been a delay in the arrival of the Prime Minister’s new car. Earlier this week it emerged that the Jaguar XJ which has been custom designed for the David Cameron was not yet available, as the Met Police hadn’t completed their security tests on it.