Driver hits out at Birmingham City Council bailiffs over Clear Air Zone fine error

A motorist was hit with a £500 fine and woke to find bailiffs sent by Birmingham City Council knocking at his door - after a W on his car registration was mistaken for an M.

Steven Ward, 41, was disturbed at his home by workers from enforcement firm CDER Group after it was alleged he hadn’t paid a Clean Air Zone charge - even though he hadn’t been in Birmingham at the time.

They slapped him with a notice and warned if he didn’t pay they’d take his car - so he stumped up. Steven has since got his money back from the debt collectors. But the HGV driver, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, said: "It’s just not right. I had no choice [but to pay].

"It was awful and so degrading, having all the neighbours seeing two people coming to take money I really didn’t owe. I’m not at all happy."

Steven first received a letter from Birmingham City Council in June 2022, asking him to pay an £86 clean air zone fine. He phoned up and sent evidence that his vehicle had been in Oldham - not Birmingham - at the time of the alleged offence.

He says he heard nothing back - so thought the matter was closed. But Steven got a second letter last December - this time from CDER Group - asking for more money. The letter said it was an extended penalty notice.

Steven then called up and was sent a CCTV image of a Vauxhall Corsa - with plates ending in either AMO or AHO. He sent back a picture of his car, a red Peugeot 206 - with the number plate AWO.

He says he pointed out the error and claims he was told no further action would be taken. So Steve was shocked when the bailiffs came to his door on the morning of January 13 - asking for £499. He’d started work at 4pm the day before and finally hit the sack at 5am - before being awoken at 9am.

Steven said: "I could see them taking photos in my drive so I went down to find the letter. Someone or some machine must have just mistaken the registration of the Vauxhall Corsa with my Peugeot registration. I had worried this might happen and I checked with them but they said it was all sorted."

Steven claims he was told he had to pay or his second car - a blue Vauxhall Astra - would be taken away within the hour. The bailiffs also said they’d also take a red and black Citreon belonging to his partner Danielle Clarke, 28, he alleges.

Steve said: “On the phone I had explained what they told me before and they said I didn’t have to pay. But when I told the bailiffs they just said I had to pay or they’d take the cars.

“I even showed them the picture of the car that was actually in Birmingham that day but they weren’t interested. They said I’d have to pay the costs of towing the cars as well.

“They said there was nothing they can do because it’s gone through court. I couldn’t let them take that Astra because it’s precious to me."

Steven says he has since been refunded, and a screenshot of his bank account shows a payment of £499 from CDER Group on January 26. The enforcement firm was approached for comment.

Birmingham City Council said: “The Council follows the statutory enforcement process for the issuing and enforcement of penalty charge notices. This process provides a number of opportunities to appeal or challenge a penalty charge.

"The opportunities for a challenge are also set out at each stage of the process so that anyone issued with a penalty charge notice understands how they can pay or challenge it.

"ANPR cameras provide a high level of accuracy when capturing vehicle registration numbers, however, misreads do occur on occasions due to dirty, damaged or altered number plates or position of number plate fixings, therefore there are contributory facts that can lead to a possible misread.

"There is a statutory process in place to allow motorists to dispute a Penalty Charge Notice and each case is assessed on its individual merits to decide whether the Notice should be cancelled or not.

"In cases where a vehicle registration number has possibly been misread, motorists should follow the statutory process to allow an investigation to be conducted and if confirmed, the case is cancelled."

It’s understood the council is investigating Steven’s complaint further.