Thousands of EU drivers 'given bogus Ulez fines'

Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens were wrongly fined for driving in London's Ulez clean air zone, according to European governments, in what has been described as "possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history".

- Anna Tims

The Guardian can reveal that Transport for London (TfL) has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens to issue the fines, with more than 320,000 penalties, some totalling thousands of euros, sent out since 2021.

The Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson in the London assembly has called for an immediate investigation, saying the issue could damage the capital's reputation as being open to visitors.

Since Brexit, the UK has been banned from automatic access to EU residents' personal details. Transport authorities in Belgium, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands have confirmed to the Guardian that driver data cannot be shared with the UK for enforcement of London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), and claim registered keeper details were obtained illegally by agents acting for TfL's contractor, Euro Parking Collection.

In France, more than 100 drivers have launched a lawsuit claiming their details were obtained fraudulently, while Dutch lorry drivers are taking legal action against TfL over £6.5m of fines they claim were issued unlawfully.

According to the Belgian MP Michael Freilich, who has investigated the issue on behalf of his constituents, TfL is treating European drivers as a "cash cow" by using data obtained illegitimately to issue unjustifiable fines.

Many of the penalties have been issued to drivers who visited London in Ulezcompliant vehicles, and were not aware they had to be pre-registered with TfL's collections agent, Euro Parking, 10 days before their visit.

Failure to register does not count as a contravention, according to Ulez rules, but some drivers have nonetheless received penalties of up to five-figure sums.