Bristol Clean Air Zone

Where is Bristol's Clean Air Zone, and which roads does it cover?

Bristol chose what it calls a small CAZ D: a charging area over the central part of the city, where the council says air quality is worst. GOV.UK puts it at 1.18 square miles. The legal definition is a set of plans rather than a list of streets. The Bristol Clean Air Zone Charging Order 2022 defines the zone as the area shaded yellow on its deposited plans, an overview drawing and boundary plans 1 to 4, and it imposes the charge on all local roads within that area.

Two things the council spells out in words. The Cumberland Basin and the Portway are inside, because they are main routes into the city and taking them out would slow the fall in pollution. And the Bristol Royal Infirmary complex sits inside, which is why the council runs a hospital exemption for it. For any other street near the edge, check the council's interactive map or the detailed map on the Clean Air for Bristol website before you rely on a route.

Nothing on the road warns you after the event. The council says you will not receive written notification or an alert when you enter the zone and a payment is due, so the signs are the only prompt you get.

• Advance warning signs on the approaches, placed where you can still choose another route.
• Direction signs, often used instead of advance warnings near the boundary.
• Entry signs at the exact point the zone starts, with a camera enforcement sign.
• Exit signs where you leave, and repeater signs inside reminding you cameras are in use.
• Each sign shows a green cloud with the letter D inside it, for the zone's class.

What does each vehicle pay in Bristol's zone?

Bristol runs a class D zone, the class that takes in private cars, so a car pays here when it would not in Bath, whose class C zone leaves cars alone. The council's rough guide is that petrol vehicles of Euro 4, 5 or 6, about 2006 or newer, and diesel vehicles of Euro 6, about the end of 2015 or newer, are not charged. Fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are compliant, as are vehicles modified or retrofitted and registered under the Energy Saving Trust's Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme.

The charge is for moving, not for being parked. The council's toolkit says charges do not apply to a vehicle parked in the zone that does not move, and a resident with a chargeable vehicle is only charged on the days they make a journey.

How do I check a vehicle for Bristol's zone, and what if the result is wrong?

Bristol sends drivers to the government's checking tool on GOV.UK; there is no separate Bristol checker. If it shows a compliant vehicle as chargeable, the council directs you to the Central Clean Air Zone Service through its online contact form or on 0300 029 8888, open 8am to 7pm on weekdays and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays. Pay while the record is being fixed, then claim the money back.

That refund has its own clock. You must apply within six months of your first Clean Air Zone payment and give evidence from the DVLA that the vehicle is not chargeable. The council lists the usual causes: emissions records held wrongly, a private registration put on or taken off a vehicle, a non-UK vehicle, a tax class change, and delays in updating records held by third parties such as military, retrofit, taxi or private hire databases.

When do I have to pay Bristol's charge, and how many trips does it cover?

The charging order lets you buy the day's licence during the six charging days before it, on the day itself, or on any of the first six charging days after it. Payment goes through the government's online service or its support centre on 0300 029 8888, and businesses can open an account to manage payments for several vehicles.

A charging day runs midnight to midnight, and once it is paid you can enter and leave as often as you like. Cross midnight inside the zone, say in at 9pm and out at 2am, and that is two charging days and two payments.

A diversion does not cost you. If you follow a signed diversion route for planned roadworks or closures into the zone you do not pay, and the cameras on that route are suspended. For unplanned closures, such as a crash or a burst water main, you do not pay either, and cameras around the incident are normally suspended once the council knows about it. Stray off the signed route and a penalty follows.

How much is a Bristol Clean Air Zone PCN, and how do I challenge one?

Miss the window and the council issues a penalty charge notice for £120 on top of the unpaid £9 or £100. Pay within 14 days of the date of service and the penalty halves to £60, but the discount never touches the zone charge, which is still owed in full. You have 28 days to pay both. The PCN number starts BS5 or BS6, and besides paying online you can use a 24 hour automated line on 0117 903 6402 or send a cheque payable to Bristol City Council to Payment Processing (Parking PCN), PO Box 3399, Bristol City Council, Bristol, BS1 9NE.

To dispute it, appeal to the council online or by post within 28 days of the date of service, one PCN per form, quoting the registration and the 10 digit PCN number. While the council considers it, the PCN is on hold and the amount is frozen. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal says a Notice of Rejection can take up to 56 days, after which you have 28 days to pay or take the case to the tribunal, and a failed tribunal appeal means paying in full.

The charging order also allows immobilisation and removal of vehicles, within the limits the national enforcement regulations set.

Which Bristol exemptions are still available?

The national exemptions apply automatically and need no application: ultra low emission vehicles, the disabled and disabled passenger tax classes, military and historic vehicles, CVRAS retrofits and certain agricultural vehicles. Motorcycles are simply outside Bristol's zone. When an exemption is on the system the cameras recognise the vehicle, so there is nothing to display.

Most of the local exemptions from the launch have ended. The residents' and community transport exemptions in the charging order ran to 31 March 2023, and so did the temporary daily and longer term exemptions for Blue Badge holders. The Financial Assistance Scheme exemption, for vehicles awaiting a telematics assessment, a financed replacement or a retrofit, ended on 31 July 2023. A Blue Badge holder now pays for a non-compliant vehicle unless it is in the disabled tax class.

Can I still get Bristol Clean Air Zone financial support?

You can still register interest, but the council says it cannot guarantee funding at this stage. The money comes from a £42m package agreed with the government: £1.8 million of loans and grants for people who need to change vehicle, £32 million for businesses upgrading lorries, vans, taxis and private hire vehicles, and £5.9 million for public transport, walking and cycling help. Support is a grant, a contribution to loan interest, or both, and the largest grant is £1,500 for a car and £4,500 for a van.

Bristol residents earning under £35,000 are prioritised, and a Bristol Blue Badge holder, or a primary carer in the same household, can be prioritised in the current round. Individuals must be the registered keeper on the V5C and have owned the vehicle for at least 12 months. Small and medium businesses and self-employed people based or working in the zone come first among businesses, although support now extends to any business based in Bristol, and taxi help is only for drivers licensed by Bristol City Council.

Two rules trip people up. You must wait for the council to contact you after registering, and you must not sell your vehicle and buy another privately, because the government's terms rule out private sales and retrospective grants. The replacement is bought second hand from a dealership approved by the council's finance partners. A refused applicant can appeal the decision on the council's form.

When did Bristol's zone start, and where does the money go?

The council made the Bristol Clean Air Zone Charging Order on 30 August 2022, and the article imposing charges took effect on 28 November 2022, the day charging began. The order says the scheme remains in force indefinitely. The council said it chose a small class D zone to balance cleaner air against the need to support businesses as much as possible.

The council says the zone is not meant to make a profit. Charges first pay for running it: cameras, signs, staff, administration and eventually decommissioning. Anything left must go to local projects such as vehicle upgrade support and free active travel help, and can be allocated to schemes including the city centre, the Long Ashton metrobus, the Sustainable Transport Corridors for Bristol to Bath, the M32, the Portway and Stockwood, the Hengrove metrobus extension and Liveable Neighbourhoods. Government runs the payment system, all revenue comes to the council, and the council pays to use the service.

Has Bristol's Clean Air Zone cut pollution?

The council says that since the zone was introduced, average annual nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen by 20 per cent inside the zone and by almost 17 per cent outside it, and that most places in Bristol now meet the legal limits apart from a few city centre locations. Its 2025 Annual Status Report covers 2024, the second full year of charging.

At launch, the council's toolkit estimated that 71 per cent of vehicles already met the standard, that the zone would take about 1,500 vehicles a day off the roads into the city, and that it would bring Bristol within legal pollution limits in 2023. Those were forecasts; the 20 per cent fall is the measured result.

What does Bristol's zone cost a commuter in a 2014 diesel?

The council's own rule of thumb puts compliant diesels at about the end of 2015 or newer, so a 2014 diesel is likely to be charged. Check the plate to be sure.

Does a 2005 petrol car pay Bristol's charge on a night out?

Bristol's guide puts compliant petrol cars at about 2006 or newer, which makes a 2005 petrol a borderline case the checker has to settle.

How much does a delivery van pay for a day of drops in Bristol?

A light goods vehicle under 3.5 tonnes pays the car rate here, and the count is per day, not per entry.

What should visitors and foreign drivers know about Bristol's zone?

Hospital visits are the one local concession an ordinary visitor can use. The Bristol Royal Infirmary complex covers the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Heart Institute, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, St Michael's Hospital, Bristol Dental Hospital, Bristol Eye Hospital and the Central Health Clinic, and some patients and visitors there qualify for an exemption lasting seven days. If you paid the charge before being given one, you can claim back one day within 28 days of paying.

Foreign vehicles are fined too. The council tells drivers of non-UK vehicles to check their own registration documents against the standard before travelling, and it will not refund a charge you paid without first checking whether a non-UK vehicle was compliant. If you paid for the wrong vehicle type and then paid again correctly, the overpayment can be refunded within 28 days with a photo showing the whole vehicle and its registration.