I get fined just for driving my wife to HOSPITAL…if I refuse to pay the council will charge me £120 – I’m furious

A MAN has been left stunned after he was fined for driving his wife to HOSPITAL - and if he refuses he could fork out £120.

Colin Lovell, 87, from Nailsea, was told his new diesel Mercedes was compliant with Bristol’s Clean Air Zone - so he was furious to then be slapped with a penalty.

Colin says this means whenever he drives his Euro6 diesel car is into Bristol’s he has to pay £9.

The 87-year-old bought his Mercedes C220 from a dealership in Farnborough last December.

They told him that his car was compliant with the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) because it was a Euro6 diesel.

However, Mr Lovell received a penalty notice after driving his wife to an appointment at the Bristol Royal Infirmary - and had his appeal turned down.

He discovered his car was one of the thousands of vehicles that have been deemed to be compliant with Bath's - but not Bristol's.

ABSOLUTELY FUMING

Colin Lovell said to: "When I left the dealership, it’s a Euro6 diesel. I asked the salesperson if I could drive it into Bristol and was told, ‘of course you can. It’s Euro6.

"Two weeks later, I drove into Bristol taking my wife to the hospital, and I got a £9 fine.

";I challenged it and they said, ‘no, the car is not compliant’, so I’m very angry about it.

"I have paid because there’s no way out of it, and if I don’t pay, it’ll be £120 if you don’t pay within seven days.

"I’m very annoyed about it all.

I have paid because there’s no way out of it, and if I don’t pay, it’ll be £120 if you don’t pay within seven days.

Colin Lovell

“I don’t understand the logic of why I can drive this car into Bath without paying a Clean Air Zone charge but not into Bristol.

"It’s a Euro6 diesel, which is supposed to be the new clean diesel cars that are compliant with all the Clean Air Zones.

"It’s completely over the top."

Bristol City Council set up its CAZ with the same criteria for diesel and petrol vehicles as Birmingham's.

Mr Lovell's car is compliant and OK to drive into every other city without needing to pay a CAZ charge, including Bath.

But Bristol said it had made its CAZ a category D, which is the most restrictive class of Clean Air Zone.

A council spokesperson said: "The Government has set legal limits for pollution, and we have introduced a Clean Air Zone to ensure Bristol meets those limits within the shortest possible time.

"A major source of air pollution in cities is road traffic, particularly diesel engines.

"Air pollution affects everyone in Bristol, especially children, older people and people with heart, breathing and underlying health conditions."