A pensioner has been left out of pocket after he was told his new diesel car was compliant with Bristol’s Clean Air Zone - and then he was fined for taking his wife to hospital. Colin Lovell is now fuming that his Euro6 diesel car is compliant with Bath’s Clean Air Zone rules - but not Bristol’s, meaning he has to pay £9 every time he ventures into Bristol.
The 87-year-old bought his 2015-plate Mercedes C220 car from a dealership in Farmborough, near Bath, in December and asked at the time if it was compliant with the Clean Air Zone and was that because it was a Euro6 diesel, it would be. However, Mr Lovell received a penalty notice after driving his wife to an appointment at the BRI in Bristol - and had his appeal against the fine turned down.
Mr Lovell, from Nailsea, then discovered that his is one of thousands of vehicles that have been deemed to be compliant with Bath’s Clean Air Zone, but not Bristol’s, leaving him angry. “When I left the dealership it’s a Euro6 diesel, I asked the sales person could I drive it into Bristol and was told ‘of course you can, it’s Euro6’,” he said.
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“Two weeks later I drove into Bristol taking my wife to hospital, and I got a £9 fine. I challenged it and they said ‘no the car is not compliant’, so I’m very angry about it. I have paid, because there’s no way out of it and if I don’t pay it’ll be £120 if you don’t pay within seven days. I’m very annoyed about it all.
“I don’t understand the logic of why I can drive this car into Bath without paying a Clean Air Zone charge, but not into Bristol. It’s a Euro6 diesel, which are supposed to be the new clean diesel cars that are compliant with all the Clean Air Zones. It’s completely over the top,” he added.
“How can Bristol City Council override the Euro6 compliant status of my vehicle, and why is it not a universally-set criteria, so every Clean Air Zone is the same?” he added.
Bristol City Council set up its Clean Air Zone with the same criteria on diesel and petrol vehicles as Birmingham’s, but Mr Lovell’s car is compliant and OK to drive into every other city without needing a CAZ charge to be paid, including Bath.
The council said it had made its CAZ a category D - the most restrictive class of Clean Air Zone and more strict than other cities’ Clean Air Zones - including Bath’s - because of the need to improve air quality more quickly in Bristol to meet the Government’s legislation over illegal air.
A total of 28 sites across Bristol had ‘illegal’ levels of air pollution in 2021, caused mainly from the exhausts of traffic.
Council's response
“The Government has set legal limits for pollution and we have introduced a Clean Air Zone to ensure Bristol meets those limits within the shortest possible time,” said a council spokesperson. “A major source of air pollution in cities is road traffic, particularly diesel engines. Air pollution affects everyone in Bristol, especially children, older people and people with heart, breathing and underlying health conditions,” they added.
Frustratingly for Mr Lovell, almost all Euro6 diesel vehicles are not liable to pay the Clean Air Zone charge, but his is just a few months too old to meet the criteria. Bristol City Council said diesel vehicles made ‘roughly from the end of 2015’ are not liable, but his is.
Read next:
- Bristol Clean Air Zone covers Portway and Cumberland Basin to 'encourage change'
- Bristol Clean Air Zone petition sees thousands call for scheme to be scrapped
- Where the borders for the scheme will fall street by street
- When will the CAZ charges operate
- Clean Air Zone start date finally announced
- Clean Air Zone fee and how people will be charged
- Bristol Clean Air Zone timeline: the story so far as start date finally announced
- Thousands of drivers 'caught' in Clean Air Zone every day in council test
- Camera error sends Clean Air Zone warning letters to drivers who've never been to Bristol
- Clean Air Zone and underground metro will make cycling safer claim council chiefs
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