London drivers warned they could have bailiffs at doors over ULEZ as TfL looks to recoup £376m
Sadiq Khan has said that Transport for London (TfL) will not stop trying to recoup £376 million in unpaid ULEZ fines 'until all avenues have been exhausted' and 'every penny' is received. The Mayor of London did not rule out the use of bailiffs when questioned by the London Assembly over this issue earlier today (Thursday, September 12).
Tory Assembly Member Neil Garratt called Mr Khan's stance 'alarming', telling the mayor that he had 'repeatedly warned' him over the problem of Londoners on 'low wages with old cars' being unable to pay for neither a new vehicle nor the ULEZ charge. AM Garratt added that, in May, it was reported that there were £220 million in outstanding PCNs, which has now 'ballooned'.
He said: "We've also seen TfL's bad debt, before you started expanding ULEZ, it was about £160 million. The last time we asked them about it a couple of months ago, it was £450 million. Perhaps that's gone up significantly as well. So a huge problem of bad debt that you've created for TfL."
READ MORE: TfL staff have 'eggs and white spirit' thrown at them by those angry over ULEZ
The Assembly Member then asked Mr Khan: "Are we going to see bailiffs knocking on people's doors trying to recover this money? Is that where this is going?"
The mayor replied: "Wall, as I said, TfL will consider all options to recover monies owed to TfL. There's no evidence of that the reason for PCNs being unpaid is because of people's means. TfL is looking into what the issues are."
AM Garratt suggested that the situation could see people's cars and televisions impounded or taken. Mr Khan added: "If you break the law, you break the law. You either believe in that, or you don't. So if you're not paying a fine, you're breaking the law."
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