CAZ and effect

MORE THAN £100M SPENT ON CLEAN AIR ZONE THAT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED

- JOSEPH TIMAN

MORE than £100m has been spent on Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone that has now been cancelled, a new report has revealed.

The latest spending figures have been published nearly two weeks after the controversial scheme was effectively cancelled, three years after a dramatic U-turn.

The plans to charge some drivers up to £60 a day were paused following a huge public backlash in 2022.

It came after more than 1,300 signs and hundreds of enforcement cameras were installed, costing taxpayers millions of pounds.

Local leaders now argue that they can clean up the air quicker with an 'investment-led' approach rather than penalising certain motorists.

Last month, after years of delays, the government finally approved the new plan, which include buying cleaner buses, giving cabbies £8m to upgrade their vehicles and easing traffic around Manchester city centre. The decision confirms no motorists will face charges.

Transport bosses have now revealed how much has been spent on the ill-fated scheme so far. By last November, the expenditure totalled £104.5m, including around £375,000 a month for enforcement cameras, with a further £2.6m forecast to be spent by March.