THE Chancellor's latest move to encourage the use of low emission cars may not be as smart as it sounds.

Four partners at Burnley accountants Cassons decided to put Gordon Brown's advice to the test - and found themselves more than a little bit squeezed.

They tried out the tiny new Smart car and decided, like most good number-crunchers, that size does matter after all! Colin Tice, tax partner at Cassons explained that the seven models of the Smart car range were among just 18 to qualify for the lowest rate of tax.

"A business providing an employee with a car currently gets capital allowances based on 25 per cent of the cost of the vehicle, with a limit of £3,000 a year," he said. " The Budget shows that vehicles with low emissions will get a 100 per cent allowance. At face value, this looks to be an incredible incentive for companies to become greener. But what the Chancellor did not reveal is that out of 2,550 models on the government database only 18 qualify which does not give a lot of choice! High emission cars are a problem, as we are all aware, but if the Chancellor expects businesses to rush out and buy fleets of Smart cars, he will be sorely disappointed."