Bristol City Council have been repeatedly sending a couple 130 miles away in Sussex fines for breaching the city’s Clean Air Zone due to a number plate mix up
A couple who kept getting fines for a Clean Air Zone 130 miles away due to a number plate mix-up have been given three more penalty charges, more than three months after Bristol City Council promised it would stop.
Bristol’s CAZ camera system is unable to tell the difference between Andrew and Fiona Robison’s non-compliant car and a different car with a similar number plate.
And while their silver Renault diesel is safely parked up at their home in Horsham, Sussex, the unknown driver of an Audi is pottering around Bristol, triggering the CAZ cameras, even though their car is compliant with the Clean Air Zone.
Back in February, Bristol Live reported on the error, telling how the Robisons were left fuming because each time the owner of the other car in Bristol drove through the Clean Air Zone, they would get a fine from the city council and have to take the time to appeal, complain and explain the situation to the city council’s CAZ team.
Every fine was accompanied by a grainy image of a different car being photographed by the Clean Air Zone cameras at a different location in Bristol.
It kept happening, so they escalated their complaints so much that they were told the only person left to complain to was the chief executive, Stephen Peacock.
The city council later said all their penalty charge notices had been cancelled and ‘they will not incur any more PCNs from now on’.
That was in February, and the Robisons hoped that would be the end of it.
But now three more penalty charge notices have dropped onto their Sussex doormat, dating from three trips into the CAZ made by the ‘other car’.
Mr Robison said they have submitted a second formal complaint, and now the running total is one written notice and 11 penalty charge notices, which if they had to pay them all, would be £1,419.
In a further twist, the Bristol area driver of the ‘other’ car recently took a trip to London, and triggered the ULEZ camera system there, with Transport for London refunding the £12.50 the couple had to pay.
The issue appears to be a bolt that sticks the number plate onto the Audi in Bristol. Its number plate begins CY11, but the bolt cover has come off and to an unsophisticated Clean Air Zone camera, the number plate reads GY11, with the rest a perfect match of the Robisons’ Renault.
The problem is the Audi in Bristol is compliant with the Clean Air Zone, so whoever is driving it has no reason to check and so is completely unaware their trips into town spark a fine for a couple living 140 miles away.
The Robisons’ Renault is non-compliant with Bristol’s CAZ, but they have no intention of coming to Bristol.
Back in February, the council apologised to the couple for the issue, and the time and inconvenience of dealing with all the fines. “We have been in regular contact with the Robisons to understand and resolve their case.
“We have looked into the details of their case and can confirm that the letter C on the number plate was misread by the system as a G due to the placement of a bolt on another vehicle’s number plate,” said a spokesperson at the time.
“All of their current Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been cancelled and they will not incur any more PCNs from now on.
They will shortly receive written confirmation of their PCN cancellations, and they do not need to take any further action. We apologise for any inconvenience or upset caused by this error,” she added.