Diesel drivers pay extra for home parking

DIESEL car drivers are being charged up to £250 extra per year for parking near their homes as more than half of London’s councils impose air pollution surcharges, an investigation has found.

Residential on-street parking permits are more expensive for diesel vehicles in 18 of the capital’s 32 boroughs, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

The additional fees, levied to discourage polluting diesel cars, are charged by only a handful of local authorities elsewhere in the UK.

A motoring group branded diesel surcharges a “cash grab” by councils, but environmental campaigners backed them as a tool to cut air pollution, urging more councils to follow suit.

Many drivers wanting to park a vehicle on the street near their home are required to buy a permit from the local authority.

PA analysed the cost of permits issued by councils across the UK.

The highest additional annual fee for parking a diesel vehicle near a home is the £250 charged by east London’s Hackney Council.

The surcharge is halved for council estate residents, while some modern diesel cars are exempt.

Among other London councils with additional permit fees for diesel vehicles are Islington (up to £220), Merton (£150) and Camden (up to £115).

Outside the capital, Bath and North East Somerset Council imposes diesel surcharges of up to £80.

Brighton and Hove City Council excludes diesel cars from its cheapest permits, which means some cost up to £62.05 more.

Edinburgh levies a £50 surcharge.

Encouraging drivers to switch from diesels is part of efforts to boost air quality, as the vehicles tend to emit higher levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) than their petrol equivalents, and are a significant contributor to the problem.

Air pollution, including NOx and tiny particles known as particulate matter, are linked to a catalogue of health problems and play a role in the equivalent of 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK.

The most recent government figures show that in 2022 nine areas in the UK including Greater London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham Bristol and the West Midlands and West Yorkshire urban areas, as well as England’s south east region, failed to meet annual limits for NOx.