Those who receive a charge should aim to pay within 14 days of receiving their notice , as this will reward them with a 50 % discount on the amount due , the full time limit for payment is 28 days .

More and more places across the UK look set to follow London ’ s lead , and LeaseCar . uk have provided a run down on the zones , where they are and what to do if you are on the other end of a charge .

Bath

The local council said it would cut its air pollution level to below legal levels by the end of 2021 , Bath introduced a Clean Air Zone ( CAZ ). However , cars and motorbikes are exempt from the charges , no matter the vehicle ’ s emissions .

If passing through the centre of the city , Drivers of high-emission commercial vans are to pay a £ 9 fee , and heavy goods vehicles and buses are forced to hand over £ 100 .

Birmingham

In June 2021 , Birmingham also established its own charging zone with a Clean Air Zone , taking payments of £ 8 from all drivers of cars pre-Euro 6 diesel , pre-Euro 4 petrol or any motors which aren ’ t at least 4 Euro .

Portsmouth

Enforced from November 2021 , Portsmouth charges ‘ non compliant ’ buses , coaches , taxis , heavy goods vehicles and private hire vehicles in its Clean Air Zone , designed to tackle incoming traffic . Private cars , motorcycles and vans are not being charged currently .

Oxford

The first Zero Emission Zone has been introduced in Oxford , in an attempt to move towards zero emission travel in the city . Currently , the zone is conducting its pilot , which launched on February 28 this year .

Under this zone , all non-electric vehicles are charged , with a £ 2- £ 10 daily cost , with drivers of ultra-low emission hybrid cars receiving the lowest charge . Current plans will see the cost spike to £ 20 a day for the most polluting vehicles from 2025 .

Aberdeen , Dundee , Glasgow and Edinburgh

Four Scottish cities are looking to introduce Low Emission Zones ( LEZ ) soon ( Glasgow ’ s current LEZ applies to local service buses only ). Each LEZ is likely to affect the city centres , with each local council able to be given the freedom to adapt their zone to their own anti-pollution needs .

Manchester , Bradford , Bristol , Liverpool , Newcastle and Sheffield could introduce zones over the next couple of years , with the Government website also anticipating Bradford and Bristol to be introduced this year .

New research has revealed the UK ’ s biggest hotspots for van theft , with some regions seeing the number of offences more than double year-on-year .

The study , conducted by IronmongeryDirect , the UK ’ s largest supplier of specialist ironmongery , issued Freedom of Information requests to police forces to discover how many vans were stolen in 2020 and 2021 .

Cambridgeshire is the UK ’ s biggest hotspot for the crime , with a 103 % increase in van theft over the two years . The number of trade vehicles stolen rose from 68 in 2020 to 138 in 2021 .

Cumbria isn ’ t far behind , with offences doubling over the time period from 15 to 30 ( 100 %).

In fact , almost two in five ( 38 %) police forces saw increases in van theft between 2020 and 2021 .

Over the two years , 14,919 vans were reported stolen across the UK , with an average of 466 per police force .

However , as many crime reports fail to specify the type of vehicle , this figure could be even higher .

Almost half ( 46 %) of the total number of offences were in London . In 2020 and 2021 , 6,839 incidents of van theft were reported to The Metropolitan Police Service . To help tradespeople protect themselves from van theft , IronmongeryDirect has partnered with Dan Powell , motoring expert at Desperate Seller , to offer security advice . Here are Dan ’ s top three tips :

1 ) Park in well-lit , highly trafficked areas

“ This can often be the most effective deterrent as it makes a discrete getaway extremely difficult . If it means paying a little more for parking or walking an extra few minutes to your destination

, it ’ s a lot less effort and cost than the alternative .”

2 ) Secure your spare wheel

“ Spare wheels are often unscrewed and stolen without the van owner ’ s knowledge . Once you ’ ve checked that you still have yours , make sure it ’ s secured with a wheel lock . There are inexpensive products on the market that can save you the hassle of being caught out .”

3 ) Make sure you have insurance

“ Most importantly , it ’ s always worth having adequate van insurance in case of theft or damage . Ensure the insurance policy includes tools and equipment left in the van overnight . Not all insurance products will provide this , and if you need to leave valuables

in the vehicle , it ’ s essential to make sure they are covered .”

Dominick Sandford , Managing Director at IronmongeryDirect , said : “ Sadly , van theft is a common problem across the UK and offences can have a devastating impact on tradespeople , both personally and professionally .

“ Our research has revealed which areas are seeing particularly large spikes in cases , but you need to be careful wherever you live , and that ’ s why we ’ re working with experts to share their top bits of advice on how to protect yourself .”

For more expert security advice , and to see where tool theft is most common across the UK , read IronmongeryDirect ’ s Trade Theft Report 2022 here : https :// www . ironmongerydirect . co . uk / blog / trade-theft-report-2022