The Department for Transport said that it had given the green light to test driverless cars on public roads.
Transport minister Claire Perry said she believes “driverless cars are the future. I want Britain to be at the forefront of this exciting new development to embrace a technology that could transform our roads and open up a brand new route for global investment”.
The coalition government launched a competition to research and develop driverless cars with pilots in Greenwich, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry.
Business secretary Vince Cable said he believed that the industry will be worth as much as £900 billion in 10 years time.
Perry and Cable are visiting the Greenwich project, which is following up research conducted by Oxford University and Nissan.
They will unveil a driverless pod that will be tested in Milton Keynes (pictured).
The government will introduce a code of practice to give industry a framework to trial cars, to be published this spring.
