Woman given ULEZ-style fine after van pictured on back of breakdown truck | UK News

A driver has criticised the council after she got a fine for her van which was on the back of a breakdown truck.

Eve Scragg, 38, received a Bristol Clean Air Zone fine on September 25, which works similarly to London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

She received a £69 fine from Bristol council – but she was left laughing when she saw the picture attached as evidence.

The photo showed her van was being taken through the city centre on the back of an AA recovery truck.

Eve lives in the Easton area of Bristol and founded local business Fan The Flames Marketing and 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.’

Eve raised concerns that others could be left with unfair fines due to the same error – as drivers only have so long to appeal the notice.

She added: ‘Hopefully I’ll hear from the council 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.

‘The garage I took the van into said apparently it happens all the time.

‘Bristol city council really need to fix the issue, or at least check the photos before sending out the fines.’

A council spokesperson acknowledged the penalty charge notice had been sent out in error and had now been cancelled.

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