LABOUR councillors in Glasgow have called for the city’s controversial Low Emission Zone to be delayed by a year. 

One politician even warned it would penalise working-class drivers. 

The SNP administration reacted angrily, pointing out that Labour had now called for the LEZ to be introduced a year earlier, on the current timetable and a year later. 

From Thursday, any driver taking a car that fails to meet the minimum emission standards into the city centre faces a £60 fine. 

According to the council’s website, that will likely include any diesel engine vehicles registered before September 2015, and any petrol vehicles registered before 2006.

There has been huge opposition to the plan. 

On Saturday, anti-LEZ protesters gathered at the Botanic Gardens in the city’s West End and marched towards the steps at Buchanan Galleries. 

The policy also faces a legal challenge from a garage inside the zone which says it could force it out of business as it won’t be able to accept non-compliant vehicles into its repair shop.

And last week, we told of how the St Andrew's Ambulance charity and a homeless charity face substantial fines unless they spend money upgrading their vehicles. 

In a statement, George Redmond, leader of the Labour group, said: “We're calling on Susan Aiken to put the city of Glasgow first for once, work with the city businesses and community groups and introduce a fairer LEZ system next year. 

“It is not too late for the council to delay the scheme for 12 months to give businesses and charities more time to prepare.”

He was backed by Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, who tweeted that the council was “damaging working-class people with the LEZ policy". 

“People lucky enough to have newer cars will be fine,” she added. “But in the absence of a decent public transport system, how on earth are working-class people to get around?”

“What a crowd of hypocrites Glasgow Labour are,” the Glasgow SNP group tweeted. “Not only did they previously attempt to introduce the LEZ a year before its implementation, in October they shifted position again to vote for June 1.”

LEZs are also being introduced in Dundee from May next year, and in Aberdeen and Edinburgh from June 2024.