Hundreds of council vehicles do not met LEZ standard

The council has a fleet of more than 1600 cars, vans and trucks across its departments but more than one third of them  are considered to be high polluting and not allowed in the zone.

The council said that it expects only around 10% of all vehicles that entered the city centre before the LEZ would be affected but figures show that almost 40% of its own fleet is not compliant.

Of its 1615 vehicles, 616 do not meet LEZ standards.

Last week the Glasgow Times told how the council’s tow trucks to remove illegally parked cars were not LEZ standard and the authority was having to hire a private firm to help out.

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A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council told the BBC: "New LEZ compliant vehicles are expected to be delivered to us in the near future and we are also retrofitting existing vehicles to improve emissions standards across our fleet.

"LEZ compliant vehicles have been hired in the short term to ensure emissions standards are met and this will allow older vehicles to be taken out of service in line with our ongoing fleet replacement programme."

The Glasgow Times has reported how a car repair firm Patons was trying to halt the scheme through judicial review.

The council told them that it had publicised the LEZ since 2018 and also told charities like Homeless Project Scotland there had been sufficient time for those affected to understand the rules and how they would be impacted.

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Union leaders say that the council has had plenty of time to ensure its own vehicles comply.

Chris Mitchell, GMB Glasgow cleansing convenor, said the council “should have thought of this a long time ago".

He added: "Unfortunately they've had to hire in a number of vehicles at a pretty penny, at a cost to the council - well, at a cost to the taxpayer."