Driver who racked up almost £3,000 in Clean Air Zone fines claims she ‘thought she had six days to pay’ after receiving enforcement letters

• Driver Cleo Burrows has been hit by £2,900 charges in Bristol’s Clean Air Zone
• Ms Burrows wrongly believed penalty notices gave her six days to pay charge  

A businesswoman has admitted she is in a ‘complete muddle’ after racking up Clean Air Zone fines of almost £3,000.

Cleo Burrows began receiving notices in April after a trip through a Clean Air Zone in Bristol meant she had to pay the required £9 charge for a non-compliant vehicle.

According to the Bristol City Council website, the daily charge can be paid up to six days before travel, on the day of travel, or within six days after travel. 

Failure to pay the daily charge results in a penalty charge notice of £120 – reduced to £60 if paid within two weeks.

Ms Burrows mistakenly believed she had six days to pay just the initial charge after each enforcement letter and they quickly began piling up.

Cleo Burrows from Bristol has accumulated nearly £3,000 worth of Clean Air Zone fines

A map of Bristol’s Clean Air Zone, which came into effect at the end of October 2022

Now, she’s learned about the system the hard way after being landed with dozens of fines totalling £2,900.

Ms Burrows said: ‘I’m a really fair person and I own a diesel car which is not compliant so I have to pay the diesel charge to travel into Bristol.

‘I don’t have an issue with that at all. I have a small business and I’m really busy so when CAZ started, I thought I had a safety net of getting a letter and having six days to pay.

READ MORE: Why millions of Londoners will ignore ULEZ and continue using their cars despite massive expansion of the daily £12.50 fee in August 

‘I had been working a lot and was shocked when I got this letter saying I would have to pay £60. I started getting a whole bunch of letters coming almost every day from April up until June,’ she said.

‘I called them and was really shocked to hear that I have fines of over £2,900. It was such a massive shock. I thought the letter gave you six days to pay. 

‘I find it all a bit complicated and I have so many letters now that I feel so confused. 

‘It’s got me in a complete muddle,’ she said.

Ms Burrows added that the council had offered to set up a payment plan for her to settle the fines, but even that was unaffordable for her. 

She said: ‘I also go into London regularly but you can open an account with ULEZ and put your card details.

‘Every time I go to London the charge is automatically debited which makes it much easier. I have a hectic schedule and often work from 7am to 7pm, but now I’m being vigilant and trying not to go through town. It’s been so stressful.’

According to the Bristol City Council website, the daily £9 charge can be paid up to six days before travel, on the day of travel, or within six days after travel. Failure to pay the daily charge results in a penalty charge notice of £120 – reduced to £60 if paid within two weeks

When Bristol’s CAZ was implemented in November 2022, there were temporary exemptions for local vehicles to give residents time to prepare.

These included private passenger cars, vans or LGVs not registered with a business, which had a temporary exemption until 1 April 2023.

Bristol City Council has been approached for comment.

READ MORE: TfL has issued £400million in Ulez fines within 16 months

In November last year, it was revealed the city’s CAZ scheme was plagued with faulty cameras, resulting in drivers hundreds of miles away receiving letters.

One motorist from Liverpool believed his car’s number plate had been cloned and quickly informed the police after receiving a letter from Bristol City Council.

The City Council admitted its Clean Air Zone cameras, which monitor which cars pass through the designated area, may be misreading registrations.

The council sent letters to drivers using vehicles that had been triggered by the new cameras on the edge of the Clean Air Zone during a three-week period in September.

The letters warned them that, while they weren’t being fined for that trip, they would be if they make the same journey into the Clean Air Zone after the scheme starts on November 28.

Drivers who have never visited Bristol have been receiving warning letters for driving through the city’s ‘Clean Air Zone’, due to faulty cameras misreading number plates  

But a number of motorists have complained to Bristol City Council over the stress caused despite never having visited the city before.

One motorist from West Wales said she visited her local police station because she was worried her vehicle had been cloned, while another driver from Merseyside said he would be demanding £300 compensation for the time and stress involved after receiving the letter.

Bristol City Council said their advice to anyone who appears to have been sent a letter in error is to just ignore it, but the council has admitted there is a problem with the cameras not being able to correctly identify some letters on vehicle registration plates.

Source: Read Full Article