WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY?

THE 2017 COURT case that forced London into tackling air pollution also ordered local authorities in 33 towns and cities around the UK to investigate how best to improve air quality, and that’s why a growing number of clean air zones (CAZS) are popping up around the UK.

Unlike with the London ULEZ, each local authority can choose to introduce one of four levels of restrictions. It can also set the cost of the daily fee it charges noncompliant vehicles.

Manchester’s zone was due to go live in May 2022, but the council has pushed back the introduction date to 2026 at the latest. In the meantime, it is holding a public consultation on the best way to tackle vehicle emissions in the region.

Unlike other regional zones, Oxford’s is a zero-emissions area that aims to discourage all nonpure electric vehicles, so it only allows electric cars and vans to travel through the zone for free. A fee applies to all other vehicles between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week.

You can pay to drive in a CAZ at gov.uk/clean-air-zones or via the relevant local authority website.

You can pay to drive in the Oxford zone only by going to oxford.gov.uk or oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Scotland is doing things differently from England. Instead of charging owners of more polluting vehicles a daily fee to enter a zone, it’s trying to force them to stay out of it altogether.

It’s doing this by issuing a fixed penalty notice fine of £60 the first time any non-compliant vehicle enters the zone – halved if it’s paid within 14 days. If the same vehicle enters the zone for a second time within 90 days, the penalty doubles to £120, and if the vehicle enters a third time within the same 90 days, it increases to £240.

The penalty charges are capped at £480 for cars and LCVS and £960 for buses and HGVS.

In some cases, the fines for residents in these areas have been deferred until mid-2024.