The government says Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone should be cut to just the city centre. Secretary of State George Eustice has written to mayor Andy Burnham saying the controversial scheme should still charge the most polluting taxis, vans, buses and lorries.
However the CAZ should no longer cover the whole of the city-region, and suggests slashing the boundaries by at least 95 pc. Mr Burnham - who has recently called for all charges to be scrapped - says this means charging some vehicles for driving within Manchester's inner ring road.
But Mr Eustice said there is 'little robust evidence' that offering funding for vehicle upgrades alone without charges would bring pollution below legal limits. It comes after the controversial scheme which was due to come into force across the whole of Greater Manchester this week was put halted and the deadline by which the city-region must meet air quality targets was delayed.
