Not mentioned in George Osborne’s actual speech, the funds are referred to in the actual Autumn Statement document where it says the money will be used to increase the prize fund for driverless car testbeds – enabling trials in Bristol, London, Milton Keynes and Coventry (under one project) from next year.

Earlier this year Business Secretary Vince Cable announced that driverless car trials will start from January 2015 as the Government looks to establish the UK as a pioneer in driverless cars and attract the world's leading specialists.

The funding comes through the competition, Introducing driverless cars to UK roads. The aim is to establish the UK as the global hub for the research, development and integration of driverless vehicles and associated technologies.

Nick Jones, lead technologist for the low carbon vehicle innovation platform at Innovate UK, said: '

Cars that drive themselves would represent the most significant transformation in road travel since the introduction of the internal combustion engine and at Innovate UK, we want to help the UK to lead the world in making that happen.

'There are so many new and exciting technologies that can come together to make driverless cars a reality, but it’s vital that trials are carried out safely, that the public have confidence in that technology and we learn everything we can through the trials so that legal, regulation and protection issues don’t get in the way in the future.'