Greater Manchester residents to be first to apply for ID cards as pilot project gets underway in the autumn.

The Home Office has said that ID cards could be available through the high street as a convenient and cost effective way to encourage people to apply for them.

The Post Office and the National Pharmacy Association are among a number of groups who have shown an interest in working with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to provide the fingerprinting and photo facilities required for people to apply for an ID card.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the cards represent “a vital investment in the long term future of this country’s economy and security,” and that “the service offered by high street retailers would make the process easier for everyone who wanted a card.”

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Smith went on to defend the government’s decision to implement the scheme: “An identity card is a more secure and convenient way to do something we already have to do, without sharing as much personal data than we now have to.”

The Home Secretary also announced that Greater Manchester is to be the first city to offer residents the chance to apply voluntarily for an ID card. A pilot project will start later this year in order to fulfil the commitment made last November that cards would be available by autumn 2009.

A nationwide implementation is likely to start in 2012, and according to the Home Office, the economic benefit of having a secure, nationally accepted ID system is estimated to be around £6 billion over the next 30 years.