Drivers are being urged not to fall for a text scam asking them to pay for entering Newcastle’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ).
Council bosses have issued a warning over hoax text messages being sent out to some North East residents, asking them to click on a link to pay their CAZ toll. It is understood that the scam requests a £3 payment from motorists, which is not an amount that any vehicle is charged for coming into the city centre zone.
Newcastle City Council said that it would never send a text message to inform affected motorists that they were subject to a toll. It comes after a warning was also issued earlier this month by Tyne Tunnel operator TT2 Ltd about a similar scam.
Read More: Tyne Tunnel issues urgent warning to drivers over text scam
A council spokesperson confirmed: “We’ve been made aware of a text message that has been sent, telling people they have driven into the Clean Air Zone and asking them to click to make a payment. This is not an official message.
“If you receive this text message please DO NOT click the link. We would never send notification of a CAZ charge to anyone by text message.”
The CAZ charges of either £12.50 or £50 per day only apply to certain vehicles that do not meet emissions standards – with all private cars being exempt. Only the highest-polluting buses, coaches, HGVs, and taxis are currently subject to tolls, with vans and LGVs due to be added to that list on July 17.
Payments can be made online or over the phone either up to six days in advance or within six days after a journey into the CAZ, which covers Newcastle city centre and the Tyne, Swing, and Redheugh bridges. To avoid being charged to enter the CAZ, vehicles must have a Euro 6 diesel or a Euro 4 petrol engine. You can check if your vehicle is compliant at www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones.
The CAZ was launched in January this year and is aimed at reducing illegal levels of air pollution, after the Government served local councils with an order to cut emissions. Poor air quality has been linked to more than 300 premature deaths on Tyneside per year.
City Labour bosses recently denied claims that the tolls could be extended to private cars and accused opposition political parties in the city of scaremongering, after it was alleged that the local authority may have “secret plans” to do so.
