Fury as Scottish council hits drivers with £120k of LEZ fines in just two weeks

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scottish council has been criticised after slamming drivers with almost £120k worth of low emission fines across two weeks.Aberdeen City Council dished out nearly 2,000 penalties in the first 11 days after its low emission zone (LEZ) was introduced.Tory MSP Liam Kerr hit out at Aberdeen City Council after staggering figures obtained under Freedom of Information showed there were 1,956 penalty charges issued to motorists between June 1 and June 11.Drivers are given the £60 charges - which are reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days - if vehicles entering the LEZ area fail to meet emissions standards.Aberdeen was one of three Scottish cities to introduce the scheme, which is designed to cut pollution, this summer, with Edinburgh and Dundee also implementing their own LEZ areas.Glasgow City Council meanwhile introduced the first LEZ in Scotland in June 2023.Mr Kerr, a Conservative MSP for the North East Scotland region, said the "astronomical number of fines" issued in Aberdeen was "further indictment of the SNP-Lib Dem council demonising people from coming into our city centre".Adding that motorists believe the LEZ had been introduced to "generate quick income for the cash-strapped council", Mr Kerr added: "Several businesses have already closed since the LEZ zones went live, while others are on the brink of having their livelihoods decimated by this draconian scheme, including our taxi trade."We know that even some of the council's own vehicles are still not compliant, yet motorists have been hit with almost 2,000 fines in just 11 days of the scheme going live."However, Ian Yuill and Christian Allard, the Liberal Democrat and SNP co-leaders of Aberdeen City Council, insisted: "Mr Kerr is wrong.