Motorist fined £120 for driving in Clean Air

A motorist was fined £120 for driving in the Clean Air – but claims he was actually at home 145 MILES AWAY at the time.

Phillip Morton, 73, received a fine via a post saying he was arrested in his car on Hall Street in Birmingham city center at 8:55am.

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But the pensioner claims he is indeed getting ready to see his eight-year-old grandson perform at Christmas at the school more than 100 miles away at his Hampshire home on December 10.

The 73-year-old said photographic evidence of him driving through a restricted area for some polluting vehicles did not even show his car.

Instead of his gray Vauxhall Antara being caught in the act, the picture on the letter shows a red Corsa instead.

Phillip thinks the camera also misreads the letter D and instead thinks it’s an O – leading to confusion about the wrong driver receiving a fine.

The five-year-old raged: “There’s definitely something wrong with the system that was picking up cars that weren’t even in the city at the time.”

He said he received the parking fee notice on December 31 and initially assumed his registration plate had been copied.

Retired banker told Birmingham Live: “On the standard print it says my vehicle registration number was in the area on December 10 at 8:44 a.m. on Hall Street, in Great Hampton Row.

“At first I thought someone had copied my car registration but I went to the council’s website and when I entered my PCN and registered it I saw it was a red Vauxhall Corsa.”

The Clean Air Zone was introduced last June and saw the council issue more than 44,000 fines in the first month of the new measures.

Phillip continued: “The picture they sent was really unreadable, it was black and white and small.

“The camera read the license plate incorrectly – it was the same registration except for one letter. It read ‘D’ as ‘O’.”

The confused pensioner appealed the fine after realizing the alleged error and now wants to warn other motorists to take precautions.

“I submitted my case saying they did it wrong but searching the net it seems there are many other cases where the camera didn’t do their job.

“Despite being at home in Hampshire on the day of the question, I am now forced to prove the system is flawed,” he said.

Birmingham City Council said of the matter: “Council is aware of this case and is responding.

“If a driver feels they have received an unfair PCN, they have the right to appeal and can do so through the online form.”