Sadiq Khan's threat of a new charge on vehicles driving into London would 'erect a barrier around the capital' and 'hurt everyone', senior Tories have warned.
Veteran MPs such as Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers blasted the Mayor's idea of an up to £5.50-per-day levy on cars entering the outer boroughs of the capital.
They pointed out the huge volume of firemen, police and paramedics who live outside the city could be slapped with an eye-watering £33-a-day commute.
It would be for those paying the new amount as well as the Congestion Charge and ULEZ - such as a nurse living in Kent but driving to work at St Thomas's Hospital.
The GLA Conservatives drafted the letter, seen by MailOnline, to Mr Khan as he grapples with the government for yet more money to be pumped into London.
The scheme would take up to two years to bring in, meaning it would not be ready until after London has bounced back from the crisis
Veteran MPs such as Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers blasted the Mayor's idea of an up to £5.50-per-day levy on cars entering the outer boroughs of the capital. Mr Khan is pictured last week
The note, by 51 Tory politicians, said: 'Charging drivers to enter the capital flies in the face of your ''London is Open'' message and ''Let's Do London'' campaign.
'It would erect a barrier around Greater London, keeping visitors, customers and workers away, benefiting no-one and hurting everyone.'
The plan would involve drivers with vehicles registered outside the city having to pay once they enter boroughs such as Croydon, Enfield, Hillingdon and Havering.
Enforcing the changes and any infrastructure is under review, but camera coverage is already in place on the Greater London Boundary for the Low Emission Zone.
The politicians said the proposed charge would see pay slashed by up to £1,000 a year for those regularly heading into the city.
They said it would also split communities from their nearest town centre, school or hospital and impact police officers and firefighters.
And some commuters would have to pay staggering charges of up to £33-per-day due to the new levy, Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone.
The letter continued: 'For Outer London, a boundary charge would penalise people visiting family and friends.
'It would hurt local businesses and high streets which rely on customers and visitors from outside the capital.
'It would also deter people living outside the boundary from working in Greater London, undermining our businesses and public services.'
The document, organised by AM for Bexley and Bromley Peter Fortune, added: 'Over half of London's police officers and firefighters live outside the capital.
'According to a London NHS Trust, one-fifth of its staff, doctors and nurses could be hit by the charge.
'A survey of schools in the London Borough of Bromley also revealed that many teachers live outside the capital.
'One school said that 40 per cent of its employees could be hit by the charge, warning that it would struggle to retain and recruit teaching staff.'
Mr Khan has threatened the Greater London Boundary Charge throughout the pandemic as a way to raise cash to bail out City Hall.
Last year he suggested a scheme like it to reduce the number of journeys by up to 15 per cent and raise £500million a year.
The Labour Mayor said at the time: 'Ministers have failed to play fair by Londoners when it comes to financing our world-renowned transport system.
'It is high time they did so. Londoners pay £500m worth of Vehicle Excise Duty every year, which is then spent on maintaining roads outside the capital.
'It is not fair on London that our drivers should subsidise the rest of the country's roads and get nothing in return.'
The vehicle excise duty is currently taken from drivers who live in London but spent mostly outside the capital.
Public transport into and around the city was desolate for months due to most businesses letting their staff work from home to avoid spreading the virus.
Officials have been looking into whether a new Greater London Boundary Charge could work for non-Londoners, with the cash being pumped back into city services.
But the scheme would take up to two years to bring in, meaning it would not be ready until after London has bounced back from the crisis.
Up to 1.3million vehicles travel into London each week, with one million into the outer boroughs.
They could face huge charges getting into and driving around the city, with an expanded ULEZ and Congestion Charge zone already in place.
£12.50 ULEZ zone: The ULEZ covered the red area of central London from Westminster to the City of London. But it expanded up to, but not including, the North and South Circular Road (shown in yellow), on October 25
£15 Congestion Charge zone: This map shows the area of the congestion charge which drivers of non-electric vehicles pay to enter Central London from 7am to 10pm, seven days a week. The ULEZ is charged on top of the Congestion Charge
Will you face a vehicle emissions tax where you live? Pollution zones are being rolled out across the country in the next 12 months, meaning many owners of older cars will either have to buy a new one or face hefty charges
In October Londoners blasted Mr Khan's ULEZ expansion because they say it has left them facing an extra five mile trip to avoid being 'taxed to recycle'.
Residents in leafy Richmond say their local waste centre has been sucked into the ultra-low emission zone following its expansion on Monday.
It means residents living in the town and driving older vehicles face a £12.50 charge if they want to take their recycling to the local tip.
The zone was expanded to cover all areas within the North and South Circular roads - home to some 3.8 million people - in a bid to lower emissions in the capital.
As a result, Townmead Road Re-use and Recycling Centre in Richmond, south west London, is now in the ULEZ zone.
But the nearby district of Richmond, which the recycling centre serves, is not.
Residents said the move is 'wholly unfair' on members of the community who 'just want to do that right thing'.
And they have been further enraged after Mr Khan urged them to drive to a recycling centre in Hounslow - a journey which is more than three times the distance.
The ULEZ zone expansion was introduced to make the previous zone 18 times larger.
The zone now encompasses areas within the north and south circular roads and has been expanded in a bid to tackle air pollution and reduce NO2 levels which can be harmful to lungs
It has operated since April 2019, but previously only covered the same area of central London as the Congestion Charge.
It now includes all areas within the North and South Circular roads in an attempt to boost air quality.
Drivers of vehicles which do not comply with minimum emissions standards are being now being charged £12.50-a-day.
For diesel cars to avoid the charge they must generally have been first registered after September 2015, while most petrol models registered from 2005 are also exempt.
It is another blow for drivers and comes as the price of petrol hit a new record high. Around 130,000 drivers are thought to be impacted.
As part of the expansion, recycling centre now falls just short of the A205 South Circular boundary which runs over Kew Bridge and is exempt from the emissions tax.
A camera will capture anyone leaving the recycling centre or Mortlake Crematorium on Townmead Road.
Councillors and residents are concerned about accessing key services and said people who are trying to save the planet or bury their loved ones could end up being penalised.
Angry residents were also quick to point out the contradiction of cutting back emissions while dissuading people from recycling.
A survey taken at the time found three in five motorists were unaware London's pollution charge zone for older vehicles was being expanded.
Only 43 per cent of drivers said they are aware of the expansion, according to the study by car sales website Motorway.
Just a third - 35 per cent - surveyed knew how to check if their vehicle was compliant with ULEZ.
Meanwhile even fewer were confident about the extended zone's new boundaries, the poll of more than 2,000 revealed.
Three quarters of the panel surveyed live in Greater London and the remainder within an hour of the capital.
The Mayor of London has been approached for comment.
Will you be charged to drive where you live? Up to 300k motorists added to £12.50 London ULEZ - here's 14 areas where similar zones are imminentAn extra 300,000 motorists living in - or commuting into - London now face a daily charge of £12.50 to use their motors following the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in the capital.
Introduced in April 2019, the zone has been extended to 18 times its original size and is set to hit the poorest residents in the capital who cannot afford to replace their older cars for newer models that are exempt from the daily charge.
But it's not just Londoners who are going to be stung each day they get behind the wheel of their vehicles. Drivers of older cars in some 15 cities will soon have to come to terms with the concept of emissions tax zones that could turn vehicle ownership from a convenience to a financial burden.
Will you face a vehicle emissions tax where you live? Pollution zones are being rolled out across the country in the next 12 months, meaning many owners of older cars will either have to buy a new one or face hefty charges
Under government orders, councils have been told to curb their air pollution levels - and to do so, they should rid their roads of the dirtiest vehicles.
Birmingham has already introduced its Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in June 2021, demanding an £8 payment each time a user of a non-compliant vehicle enters the boundary around the city centre.
We outline which cities have plans for similar zones to be in place before the end of 2022 - though not all of them affecting car drivers. Here's a guide to each one and when they are expected to launch.
LONDON - Introduced (expanded on 25 October 2021)What is it: Ultra Low Emission Zone charging older petrol and diesel vehicles in the capital
When is it going to be introduced: Enforced in the Congestion Charge Zone from 8 April 2019 - expanded 18 times in size to inner London on 25 October 2021
Emission tax type: ULEZ
Vehicles charged: Buses, coaches, taxis (registered black cabs exempt), private hire vehicles (PHVs), heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), light goods vehicles (LGVs) and car drivers
Cost to car drivers: £12.50 daily charge if a diesel car isn't Euro 6 or petrol isn't at least Euro 4
The capital's ULEZ was first enforced within the limits of the Congestion Charge Zone from 8 April 2019 and on 25 October 221 was expanded to cover most of inner London.
Drivers of diesel cars not adhering to Euro 6 emissions standards (generally registered from 2016) and petrols failing to meet Euro 4 (generally registered from 2006) have to stump up £12.50 a day to enter the zone.
That's on top of the £15 a day Congestion Charge, taking the current total for entering central London to £24 if you don't have a compliant motor.
ULEZ is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week apart from Christmas Day. It's a daily charge, which means if you enter the zone at 23:00 and leave at 02:00, you will need to pay twice (£25).
Driving a non-compliant car into the capital just once a week will rack up an annual