A pensioner who drives a 12-year-old diesel car is embroiled in a legal battle after he claims a diversion sent him into a Low Emission Zone (LEZ).
Joe Henry, 72, kept following diversion signs for several miles without realising he was being directed to the prohibited area of Glasgow City Centre.
The grandfather, who drives a Mitsubishi Outlander, has contested a £60 penalty charge but had his appeal rejected. He now plans to lodge another appeal and legal action to contest the penalty notice from Glasgow City Council, which he has so far refused to pay.
The Glasgow emission crackdown targets petrol vehicles registered before 2006 and diesel vehicles before 2015. Drivers who breach the ban are issued with £60 fines, Daily Record reports.
On June 22, Mr Henry embarked on a 10-mile journey from Clydebank to Rutherglen in the south-east of Glasgow to purchase a small trailer.
While returning around 7pm, he attempted to join the M74 to circumvent the LEZ.
However, due to roadworks, he was diverted onto London Road in the east end of the city, an area included in the prohibited zone.
He found a road at Glasgow Green which would have taken him away from this zone, but this was also blocked off. As part of his efforts to avoid the zone, he also took another left turn away from the city centre, eventually join the M8 on the south side to get home. But he had already already been caught by the scheme’s cameras.
Unfamiliar with the zone, he claimed not to have noticed any LEZ signs during his diversion. He soon received a notice with a photograph of his car, indicating a violation of the LEZ rules.
“The whole LEZ thing is badly thought out and really does need to be challenged in the courts. There is no way they are getting money off me,” Mr Henry said.
He added: “I appealed against it and said I had been diverted into the area referred to and had genuinely not seen any LEZ signs. I had done all I could to avoid the LEZ, given I was not familiar with the area, but the council rejected my appeal.”
He also claimed he was aware is car failed to meet the LEZ standard, which is why he entered the motorway.
Critics argue that the LEZ has adversely impacted city-centre businesses, taxi services, and individuals with limited incomes, who rely on their cars for work but cannot afford to purchase newer, compliant vehicles.
Similar LEZs are scheduled to be implemented in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee from the following year, raising concerns about the potential wider implications of such measures.
