LONDON - The US embassy owes nearly 3 million pounds (S$7.29 million) in fines for failing to pay London's congestion charge, British officials said on Thursday.

The United States tops the list of embassies that face fines for not paying the eight-pound-a day charge levied on cars in central London and designed to limit the amount of traffic.

British authorities say the fee is a charge for a service that everyone must pay but Washington says it is a tax and diplomats are exempt.

Five other embassies - those of Russia, Japan, Germany, Nigeria and Sudan - each owe more than 1 million pounds in unpaid congestion charges since the fee was introduced in 2003, according to a list released by the Foreign Office.

In total, 26.7 million pounds of fines are due.

Kazakhstan tops the list of embassies with outstanding parking and other traffic fines.

Its 528 outstanding traffic fines, amounting to 58,400 pounds, is nearly double that of the second-ranking embassy, Sudan, which has 29,680 pounds' worth of fines due on 280 tickets.

The next worst offenders are Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China. -Reuters