Woman gets Clean Air Zone fine after van pictured on back of breakdown truck
Eve Scragg received a letter from Bristol City Council accusing her of breaching the Ulez-like restrictions in her bright yellow vehicle.
A motorist was left "confused" after being fined for driving through a Clean Air Zone when her van was pictured on the back of a recovery vehicle.
Eve Scragg received a letter from Bristol City Council accusing her of breaching the Ulez-like restrictions in her bright yellow vehicle.
But when Scragg saw the photographic evidence her confusion turned to amusement as the van was perched on the back of a recovery truck.
The photo showed that Scragg's van had gone through the city centre at the Bath Road Bridge junction on 25 September - on the back of an AA recovery vehicle.
Scragg immediately appealed the £69 fine, but has not yet received a response from the council.
The 38-year-old, who lives in Easton, Bristol, is the founder of local business Fan The Flames Marketing & Design.
She 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."
Due to the limited time period in which people can appeal fines, Scragg says she is pleased to have seen it 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."
Councils fining incorrectly "happens all the time"
Scragg said that the garage who fixed her van told her that the error happens "all the time".
''Bristol City Council really need to fix the issue, or at least check the photos before sending out the fines," she said."
When contacted, a council spokesperson acknowledged the penalty charge notice had been sent out in error and said it had now been cancelled.
What happens if I forget to pay Clean Air Zone charge?
Clean Air Zones operate all day every day, and every day of the year, with charge periods running from midnight to midnight.
Fines can be paid up to six days in advance of travelling into a zone, or by 11:59pm on the sixth day after entering it.
Those who do not pay the charge in the allocated time can face a penalty charge notice (PCN), with the amount depending on which council oversees the zone.
The maximum payment that can be made in a single transaction is £5,000. Payments that exceed this limit will need to be split into separate transactions.
