The latest chapter in this story comes as the companies bidding for the contracts on offer appear to realise the complexity of what they are trying to achieve and ask for extra time.

The original procurement process for the LRUC was launched on 30th May 2004 by John Healey, Customs Minister and Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who said at the time, "The Government wants to make sure that all hauliers using our roads, including foreign firms, pay their fair share of the costs they impose. The launch today of the procurement phase for the Lorry Road-User Charge, which is supported by the haulage industry, is a major step towards achieving this goal."

The process actually began with the publication of a Prior Information Notice and in line with all major EU Procurement directives, details were published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Later, in August 2004, Customs & Excise announced the ten companies that were in the runnning for the procurement contracts attached to the LRUC. Accenture, Autostrade SPA, BT plc, Capita Group plc, DaimlerChrysler Services AG, IBM, Serco plc, Siemens plc, T Systems International and Tracs Consortium, were all issued with Preliminary Invitations to Negotiate.

The task of the bidders is to create the services to support the LRUC under three contracts:

It seems that the bidders may have bitten off more than they can chew as they have asked for a delay in the process of submitting working solutions for the LRUC.

Talking to ComputerWeekly a spokesman for Customs and Excise said, "We are looking at a big contract and we have been asked by the bidders to carry on the debriefing process. There are three service packages and discussion centres on how the companies will fit into those packages and work with HM Customs."

It seems the LRUC is turning into a dog's dinner, and it's still at the planning stage!