Chaos as bungling UK council pays itself £470k in 'clean air' fines

Chaos as bungling UK council pays itself £470k in 'clean air' finesThe local authority paid itself hundreds of thousands of pounds after breaching its own clean air zone policy multiple times. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Add us as preferred source Comments By Eleanor Burleigh 22:27, Thu, May 28, 2026 Updated: 22:29, Thu, May 28, 2026 Birmingham City Council introduced the scheme in 2021 (Image: Getty)A UK council has paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to itself in fines and daily charges after multiple breaches of its own Clear Air Zone (CAZ) policy. Birmingham City Council has paid a total of £472,353 for breaching the 24-hour policy since it was launched in 2021, according to reports. window.scriptsToLoad.push({url:'https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=118222&vp_content=plembed3a6btjknzwqh&cbuster=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&playerApiId=v118222',triggeredBy:'tcfLoaded',delay:1500,containerId:'ovp-primis',title:"Primis player",beforeLoad:()=>{window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v118222"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}})},}) The breaches were linked to non-compliance vehicles, many of them from the waste department, which triggered over 3,000 fines and daily charges. The local authority, which was Labour-run until May, said it had been replacing non-compliant vehicles over the last year, despite one in eight still not meeting the zone's emissions standards. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Get the day's biggest headlines in UK and World news and more Subscribe Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy PolicyThe number of charges and fines accumulated were around 20...