A couple who live 140 miles away and have never been to Bristol keep getting fined for breaching the city’s new Clean Air Zone - because of a dark-coloured bolt on the number plate of a completely different car.
Andrew and Fiona Robison said they have asked Bristol City Council’s Clean Air Zone enforcement team to stop fining them - and despite assurances from top council chiefs that it won’t happen again, it still is.
After being sent the last couple of fine notices, the couple say they were told the only person left they could speak to about their complaint was Stephen Peacock, the council’s chief executive. The council has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the error and said the couple will not incur anymore charges.
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The bizarre situation has left them facing around a dozen fines so far, and each time they appeal and have their fine quashed straight away. But, aside from the hassle of having to do that every few days, Mr Robison said he’s worried about what might happen if they go on holiday, or if one of the fines is lost in the post. They are now publicly calling on Bristol City Council to sort out their Clean Air Zone systems to stop any more fines being sent to them.
The couple live in Horsham in Sussex, around 140 miles from Bristol. Andrew told Bristol Live he might have gone to Bristol once before as a younger man, but they’ve never been for years and have never been in their car.
The couple drive a silver Renault diesel which doesn’t comply with the Bristol Clean Air Zone regulations - although since they have no intention of visiting, that doesn’t really matter. The issue is that the number plate of their car starts with the letter GY11.
In Bristol, meanwhile, there is a silver Audi being driven around the city by an as-yet unknown driver. This car has a registration that starts CY11 and the rest is exactly the same as the Robisons. This Audi is compliant with the Clean Air Zone - the driver doesn’t need to pay - so they are free to go in and out of the zone, without worrying about it.
However, their number plate is bolted on with a bolt next to the C. The bolt must have got a bit grubby, or the white or yellow-coloured cap on the bolt has come off, so the council’s Clean Air Zone cameras and automatic number plate recognition technology reads it as a G instead.
Despite being a completely different colour and make of car to the Robisons over in Sussex, the council’s systems clock the number plate and send the couple a fine each time the driver goes into the Clean Air Zone.
And that is happening quite a lot. So far the couple have had eight Penalty Charge Notices, and each time they have to take the trouble to email an appeal, proving again and again that they own a silver Renault and the pictures the council provided with the PCN show a different make of car altogether.
Each time, they receive a letter back, with the council apologising for ‘any inconvenience caused’.
The first inkling there was a problem was when Bristol City Council sent out warning letters during a trial run of the systems back in September, before the CAZ scheme started at the end of November.
Like hundreds of people wrongly sent those warning letters back then, the Robisons received one, and challenged it, and hoped that would be the end of it.
“I was assured by the PCN appeals team that a note would be placed on file and told that these notices are manually reviewed,” said Mr Robison. “This is evidently not working and when I asked who I could speak with I was advised Stephen Peacock who I now understand is the CEO of the Council.
“I have left a message for Patsy Mellor, the director ‘Management of Place’, but have little faith that after four months this is actually being taken seriously, despite my wife being threatened with fines of over £1000 to date,” he added.
Because the car is registered in Mrs Robison’s name, the council won’t listen to calls from Mr Robison, unless she is also present and consents for them to talk to him about her car. “It’s interesting that they go to that level of security, yet we are in receipt of various photographs with dates, times and locations of another person’s car with no regard for their privacy whatsoever,” he added.
Mr Robison has now formally complained to Bristol City Council demanding this stops now. A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “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.
"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.”
Read next:
- Bristol Clean Air Zone covers Portway and Cumberland Basin to 'encourage change'
- Bristol Clean Air Zone petition sees thousands call for scheme to be scrapped
- Where the borders for the scheme will fall street by street
- When will the CAZ charges operate
- Clean Air Zone start date finally announced
- Clean Air Zone fee and how people will be charged
- Bristol Clean Air Zone timeline: the story so far as start date finally announced
- Thousands of drivers 'caught' in Clean Air Zone every day in council test
- Camera error sends Clean Air Zone warning letters to drivers who've never been to Bristol
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