Glasgow

The first Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in Scotland is now in force in Glasgow, affecting any lorry not at Euro VI standard.

The zone will operate 24 hours a day all year round and covers an area of the city centre bounded by the M8 motorway to the north and west, the river Clyde to the south and Saltmarket/High Street to the east.

The motorway itself is not included.

ANPR cameras linked to a national vehicle licensing database are being used to enforce the LEZ and an initial £60 penalty charge for non-compliant vehicles entering the zone will double for each subsequent breach subject to a cap of £960 for HGVs.

The LEZ follows a bus-only phase of the scheme, which began in 2018.

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Councillor Angus Millar, convener for climate a d transport, said: “I am proud that Glasgow has fully rolled out the first of Scotland’s Low Emission Zones, joining hundreds of cities across Europe who have introduced similar initiatives in ensuring cleaner, more breathable air.

“Glasgow has made great strides in tackling air pollution in recent years, thanks in no small part to the success of the first phase of our LEZ, which has led to all buses running through our city centre meeting the less-polluting emission standards.

“But we still have stubbornly high air pollution levels in the city centre, which have been in breach of legal limits for decades now, and that poor air quality is actively harming Glaswegians’ health; creating and exacerbating people’s health conditions and the city’s health inequalities, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable.”

Millar added: “While the vast majority - up to 90% - of vehicles currently entering the city centre will be unaffected, the LEZ standards will address the small minority of vehicles which pollute the most, disproportionately creating the harmful concentrations of air pollution.”

Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh will enforce their own LEZ schemes from 2024.

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