Outrage as ULEZ cameras put up in Harrow after 'loophole'

Harrow is one of the five councils that have launched a judicial review over plans to extend the £12.50 charge to include outer London boroughs.

But TfL has started putting up cameras in Pinner, with four having now been installed on traffic lights on Pinner Green, at the junction of Uxbridge Road, Pinner Hill Road and Elm Park Road.

Cllr Matthew Goodwin-Freeman has called the decision to move ahead with this “utterly disgraceful” and claims “the overwhelming majority” of residents oppose the plan to expand the zone.

Cllr Matthew Goodwin-Freeman captured a picture of a ULEZ camera (Image: Cllr Matthew Goodwin-Freeman)

He said: “Harrow Council refused to give consent for TfL or the Mayor to install ULEZ cameras on our infrastructure.

"They have found a loophole and are installing it on TfL infrastructure such as traffic lights.”

He added: “My inbox has been inundated with residents, businesses and charities anxious about the impact the ULEZ expansion will have on them.

"What we are seeing is a rogue Mayor, spending Londoners’ money on a scheme that will have negligible impact on air quality when the [money] could be spent electrifying TfL bus fleets, cleaning up the London Underground or running bus/tube services properly.”

Cllr Matthew Goodwin-Freeman is angered by the loophole (Image: Harrow Council)

Alongside Harrow, London council’s Bexley, Bromley, and Hillingdon, as well as Surrey County Council have brought legal action following plans to expand the ULEZ into outer London from August.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says the expansion will reduce emissions and improve air quality in the capital. The council is waiting to hear whether the case will proceed to a hearing.

A spokesperson for Harrow Council said: “In the absence of a court order preventing the installation, the Mayor would have to consider the use of his powers and any process to be followed in advance of such use.

“The council is considering its options, but the installation of cameras does not prevent the judicial review challenge on the legality of the scheme itself.”

A generic picture of a ULEZ sign (Image: PA)

A TfL spokesperson said: “We are working closely and collaboratively with the local authorities concerned to install the infrastructure needed. Where cameras and signs have been installed, all the correct permitting processes have been followed.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: “Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely every year due to air pollution – with approximately 118 premature deaths in Harrow alone.

"The Mayor is determined to protect the lives of Londoners who are growing up with stunted lungs and more at risk of heart disease, cancer and dementia due to our toxic air.  

“The Mayor continues to urge the councils involved in the Judicial Review to abandon this costly and unnecessary legal challenge and instead focus on the health of those they represent.”