Woman gets clean air zone fine for van spotted on breakdown truck
A woman was given a Clean Air Zone fine after her van was transported through a city centre[1] – on the back of a breakdown recovery vehicle. Eve Scragg, 38, received a letter accusing her of breaching the ULEZ-like restrictions in her bright yellow vehicle.
But when Eve was sent a photo to show the evidence – she was left laughing. The photo revealed Eve’s van had gone through the city centre on the back of an AA recovery truck. Eve appealed the £69 fine, but says she has not heard anything from the council.
Eve said: “When I opened the fine I was a little confused as I knew I hadn’t driven through the clean air zone. ‘I’m always careful to pay the charge in advance if I do, but then laughed when I saw that the van was so clearly on the back of a recovery truck.
“It’s a bright yellow ex-AA van on the top of a huge yellow AA lorry, so you can’t exactly miss it! I appealed the fine as it’s clearly incorrect.
“The fact that I got the fine shows that they don’t have a human sense-check before sending out the PCNs, and their systems aren’t up to scratch.”
Eve Scragg was sent a fine after her van was photographed by Clean Air Zone cameras being carried by a breakdown recovery truck through the city centre
Due to the limited time period in which people can appeal fines, Eve says she was thankful to have picked it up in time. She added: “Hopefully I’ll hear from them with a cancellation soon, but if I hadn’t spotted the fine and appealed it in time I would have been left with a hefty fine.
“There’s only a limited period in which you can appeal, so if you’re away for example, it seems pretty unfair to be landed with the charge and threats if you don’t pay it. The garage I took the van into said apparently it happens all the time.
”Bristol City Council[2] really need to fix the issue, or at least check the photos before sending out the fines.”
A council spokesperson said the penalty charge notice had been sent out in error and had now been cancelled.
References
- ^ city centre (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ City Council (www.nottinghampost.com)