Yui Mok/PA
A dad has managed to rack up an unbelievable £30,000 in ULEZ fines for “driving his child to school”.
Footage posted online on Monday by a prominent protester contained an interview with the man showing off his spread of unpaid charges – which he said he would “never” pay.
In the video, the cameraman can be heard congratulating the driver on his fines and asking the father how much his stack of papers are worth – to which he replies: “£30,000”.
The cameraman says: “£30,000 worth… This is what they think, Mr Khan, look at this”, before bemoaning the environmental damage that the letters could cause.
Since being posted, the video has garnered a plethora of support on social channels, although some were quick to counsel caution.
One person pointed out that the father would “face problems for ages” thanks to debt collectors, while another said leaving the fines unpaid would cause him grief “for the rest of his life”.
One commenter said: “Good luck to him – Ulez is a joke, but that’s a big risk to take on.”
While another pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that, given that the charge is £12.50, he could have driven a non-compliant car into the zone for 2,400 days had he just paid up.
According to the Met Police, nearly 1,000 crimes linked to ULEZ cameras being stolen or vandalised were recorded in the first seven months of it being in operation.
Analysis of London’s first clean air zone, LEZ, which was brought in 15 years ago, found the scheme has significantly improved air quality in the areas affected.
Academics at the University of Bath said it has helped to reduce particulate matter (PM10) in Greater London by 13 per cent between 2008 and 2013, compared to between 2003 and 2007.
Nitrogen dioxide levels had also fallen by 18.4 per cent in 2019 in central London following the launch of Ulez compared to the period between 2016 and 2018, according to the research.
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