Joe Finnerty

Emergency services facing thousands of pounds of fees for low-emission call-outs

THE drive to clean up the UK’S major cities is well under way, with clean air zones in the pipeline for many urban areas. At the forefront of this is London, which will have an Ultra-low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) from 2019, so any vehicle that doesn’t meet Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel emissions levels has to pay a charge.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has brought the introduction of this forward from 2020, so many motorists will have to pay more money sooner. While that’s a budgetary bind, cleaning up city air is vital, as emissions are responsible for hundreds of deaths a year.

But there’s one group of vehicles that have been ignored from coverage so far. Taxis and minicabs are thought of as public transport, but what about the emergency services?

Latest figures show the upcoming ULEZ could cripple the finances of fire, police and ambulance teams in London. The Metropolitan Police would be required to update 82 per cent of its fleet, and even with a replacement programme, financial restraints mean it would still have 800 non-compliant vehicles on its books in 2020, let alone 2019.

Similarly, the London Fire Brigade will have 52 non-compliant engines on the roads, costing £250,000 a year in ULEZ charges. The London Ambulance Service is no different, with the need to replace 828 diesel vehicles and 27 petrol vehicles before the fleet is ULEZ compliant.

Simply put, if we’re trying to save lives by cleaning up the air, we mustn’t start risking lives by charging emergency services £12.50 a day to do their crucial jobs.