Driver who racked up almost £3,000 in Clean Air Zone fines claims she 'thought she had six days to pay' after receiving enforcement letters

:hehe: What a dope! - Coming soon to a City near you!

Driver who racked up almost £3,000 in Clean Air Zone fines claims she 'thought she had six days to pay' after receiving enforcement letters

A businesswoman has admitted she is in a 'complete muddle' after racking up Clean Air Zone fines of almost £3,000.

Cleo Burrows began receiving notices in April after a trip through a Clean Air Zone in Bristol meant she had to pay the required £9 charge for a non-compliant vehicle.

According to the Bristol City Council website, the daily charge can be paid up to six days before travel, on the day of travel, or within six days after travel.

Failure to pay the daily charge results in a penalty charge notice of £120 - reduced to £60 if paid within two weeks.

Ms Burrows mistakenly believed she had six days to pay just the initial charge after each enforcement letter and they quickly began piling up.

Now, she's learned about the system the hard way after being landed with dozens of fines totalling £2,900.

Ms Burrows said: 'I'm a really fair person and I own a diesel car which is not compliant so I have to pay the diesel charge to travel into Bristol.

'I don't have an issue with that at all. I have a small business and I'm really busy so when CAZ started, I thought I had a safety net of getting a letter and having six days to pay.

READ MORE: Why millions of Londoners will ignore ULEZ and continue using their cars despite massive expansion of the daily £12.50 fee in August

'I had been working a lot and was shocked when I got this letter saying I would have to pay £60. I started getting a whole bunch of letters coming almost every day from April up until June,' she said.

'I called them and was really shocked to hear that I have fines of over £2,900. It was such a massive shock. I thought the letter gave you six days to pay.

'I find it all a bit complicated and I have so many letters now that I feel so confused.

'It's got me in a complete muddle,' she said.

Ms Burrows added that the council had offered to set up a payment plan for her to settle the fines, but even that was unaffordable for her.

She said: 'I also go into London regularly but you can open an account with ULEZ and put your card details.

'Every time I go to London the charge is automatically debited which makes it much easier. I have a hectic schedule and often work from 7am to 7pm, but now I'm being vigilant and trying not to go through town. It's been so stressful

When Bristol's CAZ was implemented in November 2022, there were temporary exemptions for local vehicles to give residents time to prepare.

These included private passenger cars, vans or LGVs not registered with a business, which had a temporary exemption until 1 April 2023.

Bristol City Council has been approached for comment.

READ MORE: TfL has issued £400million in Ulez fines within 16 months

In November last year, it was revealed the city's CAZ scheme was plagued with faulty cameras, resulting in drivers hundreds of miles away receiving letters.

One motorist from Liverpool believed his car's number plate had been cloned and quickly informed the police after receiving a letter from Bristol City Council.

The City Council admitted its Clean Air Zone cameras, which monitor which cars pass through the designated area, may be misreading registrations.

The council sent letters to drivers using vehicles that had been triggered by the new cameras on the edge of the Clean Air Zone during a three-week period in September.

The letters warned them that, while they weren't being fined for that trip, they would be if they make the same journey into the Clean Air Zone after the scheme starts on November 28.

But a number of motorists have complained to Bristol City Council over the stress caused despite never having visited the city before.

One motorist from West Wales said she visited her local police station because she was worried her vehicle had been cloned, while another driver from Merseyside said he would be demanding £300 compensation for the time and stress involved after receiving the letter.

Bristol City Council said their advice to anyone who appears to have been sent a letter in error is to just ignore it, but the council has admitted there is a problem with the cameras not being able to correctly identify some letters on vehicle registration plates.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-letters.html

Some people are in for a nasty surprise regarding ULEZ, CAZ, C40 cities, etc., which are part of a much greater enforcement framework.

My mate was visiting from Dallas last week and told me that they tried to push the zero emissions malarkey on them and the Texans just fkd them off.....We could do the same if we weren't such a divided society.

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Originally Posted by Whisperer

My mate was visiting from Dallas last week and told me that they tried to push the zero emissions malarkey on them and the Texans just fkd them off.....We could do the same if we weren't such a divided society.

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Yeah, I want to carry on breathing in car fumes, sick of people trying to force clean air on me.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Some people are in for a nasty surprise regarding ULEZ, CAZ, C40 cities, etc., which are part of a much greater enforcement framework.

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Yes they are trying to drive us off the road.

This 20mph malarky is almost impossible to do.

I know four people who've had speeding tickets in the last three weeks, by the nine giants, Whitchurch and Weston Avenue seem to be the main culprits.

Has anyone else had a speeding ticket in the last month if so where?

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Originally Posted by Eric Cartman

Yeah, I want to carry on breathing in car fumes, sick of people trying to force clean air on me.

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I lived in central London for over 40 years and what made the pollution worst was road planning and road closures IMHO….if you think ULEZ is about cleaner air then you need to change your dealer Eric.

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Originally Posted by Whisperer

I lived in central London for over 40 years and what made the pollution worst was road planning and road closures IMHO….if you think ULEZ is about cleaner air then you need to change your dealer Eric.

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That's exactly what they are doing in Cardiff, close off part of Llanishen so all cars have to go down the one street which will get more congested, the same by the Castle for ages, sending traffic down Cathedral Road and the same by the old AA building make everyone pile around the prison, it's getting ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

That's exactly what they are doing in Cardiff, close off part of Llanishen so all cars have to go down the one street which will get more congested, the same by the Castle for ages, sending traffic down Cathedral Road and the same by the old AA building make everyone pile around the prison, it's getting ridiculous.

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Yep until it's gridlocked - then they will promote 20mph and then that will be rolled out all over the A roads even on faster roads like A48 & A470

This air theft charge will be the death knell for Bristol city centre. For instance, I used to visit Bristol city centre on average three times a year to visit the Record Fair at the Colston Hall and the wonderful 2nd hand record shops that Bristol has in the centre. I could spend well over £100 on vinyl plus on top of that a meal and a drinks. Thus spending approximately £150 per visit. If the cretins that run Bristol council think I am going to spend another £9 on top of this, just to enter their 'great' city, they can think again.

As well as conning motorists out of money for this air theft charge, for entering the centre of Bristol, the cunning sneaky thieving gits have also introduced it for drivers who use the Portway (the road that goes under the Clifton Suspension Bridge) knowing that tens of thousands of motorists use this road from south and west Wales, Gloucestershire and the Midlands to get to and from Bristol airport. Thankfully, there are other routes that can be used other than using the Portway to avoid this charge. Adds a bit of time to your journey, but hey-ho, you aren't giving into these dipsticks.

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

That's exactly what they are doing in Cardiff, close off part of Llanishen so all cars have to go down the one street which will get more congested, the same by the Castle for ages, sending traffic down Cathedral Road and the same by the old AA building make everyone pile around the prison, it's getting ridiculous.

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the part of llanishen they closed off is just a rat run through a housing estate. People shouldn't be cutting through there

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Originally Posted by Mr Soul '68

This air theft charge will be the death knell for Bristol city centre. For instance, I used to visit Bristol city centre on average three times a year to visit the Record Fair at the Colston Hall and the wonderful 2nd hand record shops that Bristol has in the centre. I could spend well over £100 on vinyl plus on top of that a meal and a drinks. Thus spending approximately £150 per visit. If the cretins that run Bristol council think I am going to spend another £9 on top of this, just to enter their 'great' city, they can think again.

As well as conning motorists out of money for this air theft charge, for entering the centre of Bristol, the cunning sneaky thieving gits have also introduced it for drivers who use the Portway (the road that goes under the Clifton Suspension Bridge) knowing that tens of thousands of motorists use this road from south and west Wales, Gloucestershire and the Midlands to get to and from Bristol airport. Thankfully, there are other routes that can be used other than using the Portway to avoid this charge. Adds a bit of time to your journey, but hey-ho, you aren't giving into these dipsticks.

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Many people will think like you

But many more will be apathetic and just pay it.

It’s here to stay unless protested.

I’m all for a carrot and stick approach but there doesn’t seem a lot of carrot. Why can’t all bus and train fares be merged and significantly lowered.

To get to cardiff from Caerphilly by train it’s £8.30
If you need a bus to the train station it’s another £4.

There are cheaper ways but it’s not ideal when you could jump in your car a lot easier.

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Originally Posted by WJ99mobile

Many people will think like you

But many more will be apathetic and just pay it.

It’s here to stay unless protested.

I’m all for a carrot and stick approach but there doesn’t seem a lot of carrot. Why can’t all bus and train fares be merged and significantly lowered.

To get to cardiff from Caerphilly by train it’s £8.30
If you need a bus to the train station it’s another £4.

There are cheaper ways but it’s not ideal when you could jump in your car a lot easier.

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Sadly, there are way too many sheeple in society who will pay for this air theft charge.

As for Caerphilly to Cardiff by train I don't begrudge the £8.30 return cost at all. I live very close to one of the 3 stations in Caerphilly and I can be in Cardiff Queen Street in just 21 minutes. Perfect! Saves all the hassle of driving and parking

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Originally Posted by Mr Soul '68

Sadly, there are way too many sheeple in society who will pay for this air theft charge.

As for Caerphilly to Cardiff by train I don't begrudge the £8.30 return cost at all. I live very close to one of the 3 stations in Caerphilly and I can be in Cardiff Queen Street in just 21 minutes. Perfect! Saves all the hassle of driving and parking

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It’s great when it’s on time. Often cancelled. Often only run every hour.

And if your a family of 4 it’s ridiculous

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

Yes they are trying to drive us off the road.

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It goes much deeper than that, there is a whole range of interconnected systems that will will be coming online, and not having a car will be the least of your worries.

Hopefully she pays closer attention to any business rules she needs to follow or her business could go under due to mismanagement

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

Yes they are trying to drive us off the road.

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Who's "they", and why are they "trying to drive us off the road"?

.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

Who's "they", and why are they "trying to drive us off the road"?

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What is your position on these enforcement policies, and surely you dug a bit deeper before forming your own opinion about them?

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

Who's "they", and why are they "trying to drive us off the road"?

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Who do you think?

Who makes the policies in Wales?

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Originally Posted by Rjk

the part of llanishen they closed off is just a rat run through a housing estate. People shouldn't be cutting through there

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If it's a road you should be able to drive through it, it's nonsense.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

What is your position on these enforcement policies, and surely you dug a bit deeper before forming your own opinion about them?

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It's a genuine question - who do think is behind it and why?

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

Who do you think?

Who makes the policies in Wales?

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The implication is that it's not just the Welsh government behind it though, and they haven't got anything to do with London or Bristol have they.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

The implication is that it's not just the Welsh government behind it though, and they haven't got anything to do with London or Bristol have they.

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The Welsh Government in Wales, Sadiq Kahn in London, Marvin Rees in Bristol, there is a connection there.

I'm not sure why they are trying to ban the car or at least make it as difficult as possible, they will probably say green measures.

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Originally Posted by Undercoverinwurzelland

It's a genuine question - who do think is behind it and why?

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Think tanks, large foundations, big corporations, NGOs, etc. Why? Well, that's the million dollar question innit.

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Originally Posted by North Cardiff Blue

I'm not sure why they are trying to ban the car or at least make it as difficult as possible, they will probably say green measures.

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Yeah, it's always something that you can't argue against, but it's the proposals, policy recommendations, and legislation that you want to look at, as there are lots of independencies that are quite hard to unravel.