Sadiq Khan’s TfL admits it will refund plumber who was wrongly forced to pay ULEZ fines after workman fitted private number plates on his vans – despite his vehicles being compliant

• Sam Reading, 32, said his vans were fined £15 when driving through London
• But the plumber’s vehicles were only a few years old and were Ulez compliant

Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London has admitted it will refund a plumber who was wrongly fined hundreds of pounds in Ulez charges after he fitted personalised number plate despite all four vehicles being compliant. 

Sam Reading, 32, who owns his own plumbing company, is demanding a refund for the fines after he bought four number plates that spelled out the words ‘gas job’ for his fleet of vans to promote his business. 

He discovered that three of his four vans were being charged a £15 toll every time they were driven through London despite them only being a few years old, racking up a £455 bill in just one month. 

It turned out that the personalised number plates GA52JOB, GA53JOB and GA58JOB had originally been made for vans built between 2002 and 2008, which were automitically deemed as non-Ulez compliant. 

However, Transport for London had not updated its system to take into account that the number plates had been fitted to new cars and therefore wrongly imposed Mr Reading with the fines. 

Sam Reading, 32, who owns his own plumbing company, is demanding a refund for the fines after he bought four number plates that spelled out the words ‘gas job’ for his fleet of vans to promote his business

It turned out that the personalised number plates GA52JOB, GA53JOB and GA58JOB had originally been made for vans built between 2002 and 2008, which were automitically deemed as non-Ulez compliant

Mr Reading told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘When I was using standard plates they were fine. But, when I put the new personalised plates on in August we started getting the Ulez charges.

READ MORE: Hundreds of drivers wrongly hit with ULEZ charges after camera to catch motorists was put in the WRONG place outside the zone’s boundary

‘I went on the TfL Ulez checker website and punched in the plates, which said they were compliant. But, I got £455 in autopay charges in just one month.

‘It’s as though they can’t update the system or have the technology to keep up with amendments.

‘Ulez is codswallop. It’s simply a money-making scheme targeting the motorists.’ 

Mr Reading later proved to TfL that all of the vehicles were actually Ulez compliant and therefore should not have been charged at all. 

A TfL spokesman told the Telegraph that it has ‘the latest data on vehicle compliance’ and updates it system every four weeks. 

It added that on ‘rare’ occasions’ drivers that swap out the number plates of their vehicles during this four week period will not be registered as non-compliant until the next system update. 

TfL said it is ‘working on ways to increase the frequency of these updates’ and will refund Mr Reading for the fines, according to the Telegraph. 

This comes after hundreds of drivers were wrongly hit with Ulez charges after a camera to catch motorists was put in the wrong place, forcing TfL bosses to issue refunds to drivers. 

TfL put up a camera to catch drivers outside the Ulez charging boundary on the junction of Old Redding and the A409, which separates Watford in Hertfordshire with Stanmore in North London. 

The camera was placed at the junction of Old Redding and the A409, which separates Watford in Hertfordshire and Stanmore in North London

But this was revealed to be outside the capital’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone.

The camera was put up when Sadiq Khan’s hated new scheme was launched on August 29, but has since been switched and moved – and drivers have been refunded since transport chiefs realised their embarrassing error.

Drivers have been charged the £12.50 Ulez fee – and some threatened with a £180 fine – even though they have not actually entered the zone.

A TfL spokesperson said: ‘We apologise for this error. Unfortunately this camera was incorrectly positioned and we are urgently rectifying this. 

‘It has been switched off and will only be active when it has been repositioned. We will be refunding any charges that were wrongly issued.’

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