One in five councils are hitting motorists with clean-air parking levies

Drivers are being hit by hefty surcharges across England to park their petrol and diesel vehicles.

- Anna Tims

One in five councils are thought to be adding clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident permits to discourage polluting cars.

East Sussex and Bath and North East Somerset councils are the latest to have introduced the system this spring, while two-thirds of London boroughs charge vehicles according to fuel type. The levies are in addition to emission penalties levied by some cities on older vehicles.

Unlike with clean air zones, the parking surcharges, which can triple the overall cost of a tariff, are not routinely flagged on street signs.

Councils say the policy is necessary to tackle air pollution and encourage greener modes of transport.

Some local authorities only surcharge diesel vehicles. Others exempt vehicles compliant with the EU's Euro 6 standard, while many relate fees to CO2 emissions or engine size, leading to a dozen or more price bands for the same location.