Motorists cough up nearly £20 MILLION to drive in Sheffield's clean air zone in past three years

Sheffield’s clean air zone (CAZ) has generated around £20 million through charges and fines on high emission vehicles since it was introduced, new data has revealed.

Since 2023, coaches, vans and HGVs (heavy goods vehicles) have had to pay charges of up to £50 a day if wanting to drive along Sheffield’s ring road.

It was hoped that the CAZ would help improve air quality within the city, reducing congestion from the most heavily polluting vehicles.

The Star can now reveal that since its introduction drivers have paid a total of £19,236,077 in both fines and charges.

Data gathered through FOI (freedom of information) requests shows that until July 31 this year, a total of 492,810 vehicles have paid charges on time, generating £5,486,204 for Sheffield City Council.

The figures show that in both 2023 and 2024, around £1.8 million was paid in charges, with this dropping to just over £1.2million by 2025.

Meanwhile, in the first half of 2026, £565,030 was paid in CAZ costs.

Charges are split into two categories, with larger vehicles having to pay £50 while smaller vehicles like taxis and LGVs (light goods vehicles) paying only £10 a day.

Cars driven for personal use are exempt.

Those that fail to pay the charges within six days of driving through the zone are fined, with 241,300 motorists facing these penalty notices.

These fines alone generated £13,749,873, with the most being paid in 2024 when drivers caught breaking the rules had to cough up £4,699,394.

All together, 8,297 did manage to successfully appeal these notices over the years, however that number has rapidly declined from 5,288 in 2023, to just 1,299 in 2024.

Sheffield City Council have said that the CAZ is “taking us a step closer to cleaner air and higher standard of health,” citing data which shows a 28 per cent drop in levels of harmful NO2 (nitrous dioxide) since its introduction.

They go onto say that money raised from the scheme is going back into more clean air projects, including a £1m investment in February this year which included funding environment education for children and introducing 20mph speed restrictions outside 22 schools.

A council spokesperson adds: “From the very beginning, the council has promised that any surplus CAZ income will be used to continue to improve the air we breathe across the city, especially for our younger generations. Making good on that promise, the council has already invested £1million of CAZ income on air quality projects in Sheffield.

“We are also working alongside South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, to introduce electric buses in Sheffield as quickly as possible to further improve air quality at key locations across the district.

“Traffic volumes in the CAZ area haven’t decreased since it was launched. In fact, data shows that traffic has increased in the CAZ area and across the city, in line with the national traffic trends post-pandemic. Data shows that only 0.4 per cent of journeys are now made by non-compliant vehicles, with 89 per cent of vehicles now meeting the minimum CAZ standard.

“Between 2022 and 31 July 2026, £9,838,057 has been spent on operations of the CAZ.

“The remaining money generated from the CAZ has been retained to cover future spending including future investment in the CAZ should it be required, ensuring operations can continue in future and decommissioning of the CAZ when the time comes.”

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