Driving in
Driving in Newcastle upon Tyne
Checked on 30 June 2025.Office for National Statistics, Population estimates, local authority based by single year of age (mid-2025) (as of 30 June 2025)
The Tyneside Clean Air Zone
Exempt
2004 petrol car: Tyneside Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, van or light goods vehicle and bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle.
Exempt
2012 diesel car: Tyneside Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, van or light goods vehicle and bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle.
Exempt
2018 diesel car: Tyneside Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, van or light goods vehicle and bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle.
| Operated by | Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council |
| In force since | 30 January 2023 |
| Hours | 24 hours a day, every day. |
| Area | Most of Newcastle city centre, plus the Tyne Bridge, the Swing Bridge, the High Level Bridge and the Redheugh Bridge, so the crossings into Gateshead are inside the zone. |
| Penalty for non payment | £120, reduced to £60 if you pay within 14 days of receiving the notice. Unpaid beyond 28 days it increases by half and becomes recoverable as a civil debt. |
The zone opened on 30 January 2023 for taxis, buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles, with vans added in July 2023. It is the only English zone where the bridges are the story: the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges are all inside it, so a Gateshead driver crossing into Newcastle is charged before reaching the city centre. Taxis and vans pay £12.50, the same figure as the London ULEZ and on the same Euro 6 diesel standard, so a van that clears the ULEZ will normally clear this zone too.
Nearby crossing: Tyne Tunnel tolls.
What is different about driving in Newcastle upon Tyne?
Newcastle upon Tyne is covered by the Tyneside Clean Air Zone, so an older car pays a daily charge that the same car would not pay in most of the country. Vehicle tax, fuel duty and speeding penalties are national and identical everywhere.
Local figures for Newcastle upon Tyne
- The Tyneside clean air zone is shared with Gateshead and is a class C scheme, so taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, lorries and buses can be charged while private cars are not.
- It covers 0.94 square miles across the two authorities, which makes it the second smallest of the seven English zones after Sheffield's.
- 36.6% of Newcastle households had no car or van at the 2021 census, against 23.5% across England.
- About 108,900 licensed cars were recorded in the Newcastle council area at the end of March 2026, and the city had 397 public chargers at 1 April 2026.
The numbers behind those lines
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Vehicle fleet | The Tyneside clean air zone is shared with Gateshead and is a class C scheme, so taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, lorries and buses can be charged while private cars are not. |
| Public charging | The Tyneside clean air zone is shared with Gateshead and is a class C scheme, so taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, lorries and buses can be charged while private cars are not. |
| Car ownership | 36.6% of Newcastle households had no car or van at the 2021 census, against 23.5% across England. |
Common questions
- Is there a clean air zone in Newcastle upon Tyne?
- Yes. Newcastle upon Tyne is covered by the Tyneside Clean Air Zone, run by Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council, in force since 30 January 2023. It operates 24 hours a day, every day..
- What does a car pay to drive in Newcastle upon Tyne?
- Tyneside Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, van or light goods vehicle and bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle.
- How many public chargers are there in Newcastle upon Tyne?
- The Tyneside clean air zone is shared with Gateshead and is a class C scheme, so taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, lorries and buses can be charged while private cars are not.
- Are motoring rules different in England?
- Vehicle tax, speeding penalties and licensing are set nationally, so they are the same everywhere in Great Britain. What varies locally is whether a charging zone applies and what it costs.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Population estimates, local authority based by single year of age (mid-2025) (as of 30 June 2025)
- Office for National Statistics, Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2025 (as of 29 July 2026)
- Office for National Statistics, Census 2021, TS045 car or van availability (as of 21 March 2021)
- Department for Transport, Vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0105 (2026 Q1) (as of 31 March 2026)
- Department for Transport, Electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics, table EVCI0102 (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Driving in a clean air zone (as of 30 July 2026)
- BREATHE Clean Air (Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council), Charges (as of 30 January 2023)
- BREATHE Clean Air (Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council), Payments (as of 30 July 2026)
- Gateshead Council, The Clean Air Zone is now live (as of 30 January 2023)
- Newcastle City Council, Clean Air Zone grants scheme to end next year (as of 30 January 2026)
- GOV.UK, Clean Air Zones (as of 12 February 2026)