A mum was shocked to learn she'd built up more than £1,000 in fines when she drove into a city's Clean Air Zone on her way to visit her teenage son in a mental health facility.
One of Carly Caldwell's seven children was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in July 2021 and she has made numerous trips back and forth to support him.
Ms Caldwell has already paid £700 in relation to the penalties racked up over her visits to Parkview Clinic in Moseley, Birmingham.
But debt collectors threatened to take her car unless she paid the £1,027 bill still owed to Birmingham City Council.
People sympathising with the mum's plight have blasted the CAZ scheme and said they realise how hard this be for the 43-year-old mum, from Nuneaton, but others have argued that everyone needs to follow the rules.
John Richard Jones wrote: "It may be legally chargeable, but don’t these bureaucratic jobsworths have any compassion or feelings for others, especially this mother visiting her son in hospital?
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"It has already been mental torture for her having to visit her son without the additional problems of knowing where the Clean Air Zone boundaries are."
Stephen Wilton said: "It’s unfortunate but it has to be paid….
"Same as the thousands who drive into clean air zones. I was on an emergency call out to the children’s hospital where they had lost power…. I forgot to pay and I got fined. My fault."
Mia-Louise Drysdale said: "Had this happen when travelling to and from the children's hospital for my son's surgery.
"They wrote two of them off for me and I had to pay one. It’s awful."
Birmingham's Clean Air Zone came into effect on June 1, 2021, with charges starting on June 14.
The pollution-busting zone means cars, taxis, vans, lorries, buses and coaches face a daily charge for coming into the city centre if they are not compliant with emissions standards and have not obtained an exemption.
Scooters and motorbikes are not liable for the charge.
Birmingham City Council has opted for a Class D Clean Air Zone.
Local authorities in many other cities are also introducing clean air zones as part of a national Government drive to reduce pollution.
