Sheffield Council to refund 4,700 Clean Air Zone fines following printing error

The most polluting taxis, vans, lorries, buses and coaches driving into the city centre or on the ring road are charged either £10 or £50 a day, depending on the size of the vehicle.

Failure to pay leads to a penalty charge notice of £120 which increases to £180 if not paid within 28 days.

Printing errors were made by a third-party supplier when the clocks went forward, the council said.

Affected journeys were made between Sunday, March 26 and Thursday, April 6 with one extra case on April 12.

Those who drove within the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) during this period and paid their CAZ charge were not impacted. 

Councillor Joe Otten, chair of the street scene committee, said affected drivers were contacted this week by letter which included details of a dedicated phone line and email address for enquiries.

He said: “We were disappointed to learn of this technical error and staff from our third-party suppliers and the council and have been working to rectify the issue.

“We want to take this opportunity to apologise to all those that are impacted and for the inconvenience associated with this issue.”

Coun Ben Miskell, chair of the transport committee, added: “While this issue is extremely disappointing, and we had anticipated some teething issues, we have been assured this error has been rectified and we will be closely monitoring the CAZ penalty charge notice systems going forward. We share the frustration we know those affected will feel with this.”

For those who already paid the penalty charge notice, the council will retain the cost of the CAZ charge and refund the outstanding amount.

Those who have outstanding penalty charge notices will have a new one issued but will have the option to pay only the CAZ charge if paid within 13 days.