Driving in
Driving in Portsmouth
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 Portsmouth Clean Air Zone
Exempt
2004 petrol car: Portsmouth Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, bus or coach and heavy goods vehicle.
Exempt
2012 diesel car: Portsmouth Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, bus or coach and heavy goods vehicle.
Exempt
2018 diesel car: Portsmouth Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, bus or coach and heavy goods vehicle.
| Operated by | Portsmouth City Council |
| In force since | 29 November 2021 |
| Hours | 24 hours a day, every day of the year. |
| Area | The south western part of the city. The zone was drawn to fix two specific stretches of road, the A3 Alfred Road and the A3 Mile End Road and Commercial Road, on the way in from the M275. |
| Penalty for non payment | £60 if you pay within 14 days, rising to £120 after that. You can challenge a notice within 28 days. There is also a six day window to pay the daily charge before a notice is issued at all. |
Portsmouth is the only class B zone in England, live since 29 November 2021, and it exists to bring two roads into compliance: the A3 Alfred Road and Mile End Road on the route in from the M275. Vans are not charged, which makes it the cheapest zone in the country for a tradesperson with an older Transit and the most surprising for a coach operator, because coaches and buses pay £50. You also get six days to pay the daily charge, so a driver who realises late can still avoid a penalty.
What is different about driving in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth is covered by the Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth
- Portsmouth runs the only class B clean air zone in England. It charges buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, and leaves cars and vans alone.
- The zone covers 1.16 square miles and runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
- Of about 121,600 licensed cars in the city at the end of March 2026, roughly 44,200 are kept by companies rather than private individuals, which is more than one in three.
- 30.3% of Portsmouth households had no car or van at the 2021 census, which is high for the South East.
- The city had 434 public chargers at 1 April 2026, or 202.5 per 100,000 people.
The numbers behind those lines
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Vehicle fleet | Portsmouth runs the only class B clean air zone in England. It charges buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, and leaves cars and vans alone. |
| Public charging | Portsmouth runs the only class B clean air zone in England. It charges buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, and leaves cars and vans alone. |
| Car ownership | 30.3% of Portsmouth households had no car or van at the 2021 census, which is high for the South East. |
Common questions
- Is there a clean air zone in Portsmouth?
- Yes. Portsmouth is covered by the Portsmouth Clean Air Zone, run by Portsmouth City Council, in force since 29 November 2021. It operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year..
- What does a car pay to drive in Portsmouth?
- Portsmouth Clean Air Zone does not charge cars, whatever they are registered as. The charge here applies to taxi or private hire vehicle, bus or coach and heavy goods vehicle.
- How many public chargers are there in Portsmouth?
- Portsmouth runs the only class B clean air zone in England. It charges buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, and leaves cars and vans alone.
- 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)
- Portsmouth City Council, Penalty charge for Clean Air Zone (as of 30 July 2026)
- Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council), Clean Air Zone (as of 29 November 2021)
- Portsmouth City Council, Air quality in Portsmouth (as of 29 November 2021)
- GOV.UK, Clean Air Zones (as of 12 February 2026)