A 10-mile trip plunged a father-of-two into credit card debt by costing him £2,000 after he drove his motorhome to and from a campsite in London’s low emission zone (LEZ) on Easter weekend “without knowing” he was being charged. Geoffrey Eaton, 53, travelled to the capital on Good Friday with his wife Linda, 53, and their two children Adam, 16, and Elizabeth, 13, to visit family for what promised to be a “relatively cheap” and “fantastic” day out, but it turned into a “very nasty surprise”.
The self-employed architect received a penalty notice from Transport for London, demanding he pay £2,000 after driving his motorhome five miles in and out of the capital’s low emission zone, which extends to the M25 and is different to the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ). Geoffrey made two five-mile journeys within the zone, to and from a campsite in Abbey Wood, for which he was charged £300 each time, but says that he was unaware the zone extended past the capital’s North and South Circular roads, and that he did not see any warning signs.
Only when he received the penalty notice through the mail a week later on April 18 did he realise his mistake, by which time the cost of each journey had been hiked up to £1,000 due to late payment for the charges he was not aware of, leaving him no option but to use his credit card and put his summer holiday plans on ice. TfL have since agreed a “discretionary refund” of £1,400.
