London Assembly member, Caroline Pidgeon, has been publicising stories emerging from drivers from outside the UK who have been handed large fines which appear to be both unwarranted and illegal. The Guardian has picked up her concerns and its investigations (“Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens ‘wrongly fined for driving in London Ulez’“) have revealed that the practice is widespread.

She discovered that thousands of drivers have been fined large sums under Transport for London’s ULEZ (Ultra Low Emissions Zone) regulations for not paying the £12.50 charge when driving in London. It seems that their personal data was acquired by dodgy illegal means. In fact this is “possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history”. As the Guardian says:

Since Brexit, the UK has been banned from automatic access to personal details of EU residents. Transport authorities in Belgium, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands have confirmed to the Guardian that driver data cannot be shared with the UK for enforcement of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), and claim registered keeper details were obtained illegally by agents acting for TfL’s contractor Euro Parking Collection.

Now this is not a case of guilty people getting away with it because of data protection laws. In many cases the drivers were in ULEZ compliant cars and should not have been subject to the ULEZ fee anyway! In other cases the drivers had paid the charge.

The problem is that EU drivers of ULEZ compliant vehicles coming into London are required to register with Euro Parking at least 10 days in advance. But this requirement is simply not publicised. So drivers who should not have to pay the charge are instead penalised.

To make things worse, some drivers of compliant cars are also being fined under the older LEZ regulations which apply to commercial vehicles. The Guardian quotes one example:

One French driver was fined £25,000 for allegedly contravening Lez and Ulez rules, despite the fact his minibus was exempt.

Not surprisingly Caroline is calling for a full investigation into the issue. She says:

It is extremely worrying to hear that TfL could be collecting its data from drivers unlawfully. The extent of fines being issued to visitors from the EU, many incorrectly, demonstrates that the rules are not being communicated clearly to tourists, something which I have raised with TfL in the past only to be brushed off. If this issue is not solved urgently, it risks seriously damaging London’s reputation as being open to visitors.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.