Identity cards will go on sale for £30 to people who live and work in Greater Manchester from the end of this month.

So far only foreign national carry the cards. The government hopes to target students and young people as those most likely to use the cards to prove their identity.

It says the £30 cards will provide a secure and convenient way for people to prove their identity when opening bank accounts, buying alcohol, or traveling in Europe.

"Today’s announcement is the final step towards issuing secure identity cards to the residents of Greater Manchester," said identity minister Meg Hillier.

The Home Office has spent nearly £230,000 a day on developing ID cards and biometric passports so far this year, a total of £216 million since April 2006.
Immigration minister Phil Woolas said that he had enrolled for a card today.

“Having been through the enrolment process this morning, I can vouch for the fact it is simple, secure and only takes around 15 minutes," he said.

But Home Office figures show that just 0.4 per cent of the population of Manchester - fewer than 2,000 people - having registered to get an application form for an ID card.

The Home Office want the cards to be widely available from 2011. The whole project has a price tag of £5.4bn, though the Conservatives say they will abolish the scheme should they win the election next summer.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said today: "I would advise anyone in Manchester not to bother wasting £30 on an identity card as a Conservative government would scrap this expensive, intrusive and unworkable scheme. The Government shouldn't hoodwink anyone in Manchester that there are benefits to this card."