Clean Air Zone has cost nearly £100m so far

CONTROVERSIAL SCHEME'S FUTURE STILL UNDECIDED

- JOSEPH TIMAN

GREATER Manchester's Clean Air Zone has cost nearly £100m so far as the future of the controversial scheme is still unknown.

The plan to charge vans, taxis, buses, lorries and coaches which do not meet emissions standards has been 'under review' for nearly two years.

The proposal for owners of these vehicles to face a daily fee for driving on almost all of the city-region's roads was paused a few months before it was set to be introduced in 2022 following a huge public backlash.

Last week, transport bosses published details of a revised scheme which would see all charges scrapped with local leaders arguing that they are no longer needed to improve air quality.

The government, which agreed to push the deadline by which Greater Manchester must meet legal limits on pollution to 2026, will need to approve the new proposal - which involves offering cash for cabbies to upgrade their vehicles as well as buying new electric buses before the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) can officially be scrapped. Meanwhile, the scheme is still costing the taxpayer millions of pounds.

This includes paying around £375,000 a month for the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed to catch non-compliant vehicles. These cameras have been used in criminal investigations and may be handed over to Greater Manchester Police.