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Reports Put ULEZ and Clean Air Zone Penalty Notices Near 10 Million Since 2019

Reports citing a MotorEasy FOI request put ULEZ and CAZ penalty notices since 2019 at about 9.6 million, with an important caveat about which places the figure covers.
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Reports citing a MotorEasy freedom of information request put the number of ULEZ and Clean Air Zone (CAZ) penalty notices issued since 2019 at about 9.6 million. That figure needs a geographic caveat: Business Motoring describes the total as covering London, Bradford and Portsmouth, and the underlying FOI response and full breakdown are not available in the reports cited here. It should not be read as a verified UK-wide total for every emissions zone.

These are penalty notices, not a confirmed count of drivers, payments or repeat offenders. The reports also describe repeat offences, but do not define them in a way that establishes how many individual motorists received multiple notices.

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What does the reported 9.6 million figure count?

Visordown reported in 2026 that a MotorEasy FOI request found around 9.6 million penalties issued since 2019. Business Motoring’s 2026 account says that figure covers London, Bradford and Portsmouth. Because the underlying response and full records are not available in these reports, the total cannot be independently recalculated from them; nor do they establish that it covers every clean-air scheme in the UK.

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The headline word “fines” refers to Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). The aggregate is a count of notices as reported, not proof of how many were paid or how much money authorities collected. A driver can receive more than one notice, so it cannot be treated as a count of unique motorists.

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Repeat notices are not a count of repeat offenders

The reports each mention more than 300,000 repeat offences, but describe their coverage differently. Visordown refers to London and other emissions zones; Business Motoring names Sheffield, Portsmouth and Birmingham. Neither gives a definition or enough detail to establish how many individual people were involved. The reported total should therefore not be converted into a figure for repeat drivers.

How does the reported total compare with a specific London period?

A separate, narrower figure comes from a London Assembly response: 2,130,392 ULEZ PCNs for 29 August 2023 to 6 September 2024. The response said 69% were outstanding at the point cited. This is a London figure for a defined period, not a breakdown of the reported 9.6 million since 2019, and it should not be added to that total.

The Assembly response, published in November 2024, listed a £180 ULEZ PCN, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days. Those amounts are dated figures, not a guarantee of the current penalty. Check Transport for London’s current ULEZ guidance for live requirements and charges.

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How much is a CAZ or ULEZ penalty?

There is no single UK-wide PCN amount in the examples available. Charges and penalties depend on the zone and its rules; a daily zone charge is distinct from a penalty for failing to pay it.

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Zone and geography PCN amount and reduction Other relevant detail Source and date
Bradford CAZ, England £120; reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days The outstanding CAZ charge is also payable. Bradford Council says that failing to pay or appeal within 28 days can lead to a Charge Certificate increasing the fine by 50%. Bradford Council guidance, accessed 2026
London ULEZ £180; reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days The amounts were reported in a November 2024 Assembly response; check TfL for current rules. London Assembly response, 2024

Bradford’s payment and appeal deadlines are specific to its CAZ. Do not assume that a discount period, penalty amount or escalation process in one authority applies in another.

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How can you check whether your vehicle needs to pay?

Check before travelling, using the official service for the zone you plan to enter. Vehicle compliance and payment procedures are not identical across schemes: the GOV.UK service covers applicable English CAZs, while London uses a separate service for its low- and ultra-low-emission zones.

  1. Identify the exact zone and the date you will travel.
  2. Use the GOV.UK Clean Air Zone checker and payment guidance for a listed English CAZ. For London, use TfL’s ULEZ service.
  3. Check your vehicle details and the requirements for that zone. If a charge applies, confirm its amount and the payment deadline through the same official channel.
  4. If you receive a PCN, follow the payment or challenge instructions and deadlines stated on the notice and the relevant authority’s website.

An online compliance check is the route described by the government; the sources cited here do not establish that a generic vehicle diagnostic device can determine whether a vehicle is legally compliant with a zone.

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Do millions of penalties show whether clean-air zones work?

No. A penalty count measures notices issued, not air quality. London City Hall reported a 49% reduction in roadside nitrogen dioxide, citing Air Quality in London 2016–2024. It also said Defra data showed annual mean NO2 was within legal limits in 2024 at the designated monitoring-network sites. Those are separate environmental measures; neither turns the reported PCN total into evidence of the zones’ impact on its own.

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