Congestion Charging

Telegraph - Motoring - Honest John's Agony column

(Filed: 30/08/2003)

The twilight zone

I thought you might like to know that I have received a central London congestion charge penalty notice for my 1903 Baker Electric Stanhope two-seater, which was locked in my garage in Cheshire at the time. The car is tiller steered and has a maximum speed of 12mph. It is registered J66 and neither I nor the car have ever been to Kennington Lane.
P.H., Cheshire

Such mistakes are all too common. Incidentally, the congestion charge has cut central London traffic by 30 per cent, twice as much as intended, and is therefore losing huge amounts of money. In order to recoup some of this loss, public transport fares are now set to rise by 30 per cent. And some people call this success.

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