Drivers of London’s dirtiest vehicles face daily charge of £21.50

0 London mayor Sadiq Khan hopes introducing the charge will help improve air quality in the city Charges for driving the oldest, most polluting vehicles into central London have almost doubled after a £10 toxicity “T-charge” came into force.

The fee applies mainly to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006 and covers the same area and operating times as the existing congestion charge zone.

Drivers already faced an £11.50 daily fee for entering the central London zone on weekdays between 7am and 6pm.

The T-charge is an additional cost, taking the total to £21.50.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, who introduced the scheme, claimed London now has “the world’s toughest emission standard”.

He said he is taking “urgent action to help clean up London’s lethal air”.

The mayor went on: “The shameful scale of the public health crisis London faces, with thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution, must be addressed. Today marks a major milestone in this journey with the introduction of the T-charge to encourage motorists to ditch polluting, harmful vehicles.”

Friends Of The Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates said she believes the mayor is “right to try to dissuade drivers bringing the oldest, dirtiest vehicles into central London”, but warned it is “only one small step towards clean air”.

RAC roads policy spokesman Nick Lyes said the mayor is right to take action over the oldest vehicles “because these are more likely to be the most polluting”, but warned that “drivers may also see themselves as an easy target”.

He said: “While some car emissions are a contributory factor to poor air quality, the mayor needs to look at other sectors such as industry, domestic boilers and even his own bus fleet, where he should be accelerating transition to zero emissions as soon as possible.”

AA president Edmund King said the majority of London drivers support measures to improve air quality, but “it is crucial to get the balance right”.

He said: “This new T-charge should not be seen as an excuse for the London boroughs to introduce their own charging or parking schemes which aim to demonise diesels whether driven or not.”

The T-charge is the first of a series of new rates being introduced in London.

It is due to be replaced by a stricter Ultra-low Emission Zone in 2020, although Mr Khan is consulting on bringing this forward to 2019.