The pause on big charges for driving into the city's clean air zone has now been lifted, with locals expressing dismay at 'substantial' fines dropping onto door mats.

The Bristol City CAZ is not, they claimed, very well marked, and now the penalties for driving into the city to the parts which are controlled, are big.

There seems to have been a big jump in penalty notices issued, explained, say the city council by the lifting of the earlier 'lighter' touch when it came to those who drove into the CAZ, perhaps without knowing.

They offered a Special Payment Period for the first six weeks of the zone's operation meaning anyone who received a PCN could have their fine cancelled if they paid the appropriate daily charge for that journey within seven days. But that has now been lifted and some drivers from Midsomer Norton have been landed with what they call 'substantial council-tax-like bills.'

 A spokesperson from Bristol City Council said "The Clean Air Zone has been introduced because Bristol has been directed by government to reduce harmful and illegal levels of air pollution. The zone will help reduce harmful pollution caused by vehicles and encourage people to switch to cleaner ways of travelling. No vehicles are banned from the zone, but older and more polluting vehicles have to pay a daily charge to drive in a central area of the city.

 "Around 80% of vehicles already meet the zone's requirements – you can check your vehicle on https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/streets-travel/bristols-caz/charges-and-vehicle-checker to see if you need to pay. You can pay the charge to enter Bristol's Clean Air Zone from up to six days before until six days after you enter the zone. If you do not pay the charge you may be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). We offered a Special Payment Period for the first six weeks of the zone's operation meaning anyone who received a PCN could have their fine cancelled if they paid the appropriate daily charge for that journey within seven days. " 

A driver from Midsomer Norton posted a warning to other drivers to be aware of the CAZ which he unwittingly drove into in December.

He was then sent a reminder to pay, but this went into his junk mail. He explained: " "Our car had gone in the zone sometime around December and so far they have received zero payment for it. The bill I got for this was substantial.

A monthly council tax size bill I might add. I was shocked to say the least and couldn't work out why this had been allowed to accrue to this amount.

I checked my previous letters and the majority is junk mail but I found the previous letter about paying a substantially less fine than the one I have now.

So I now have to face the consequences and pay up as the current letter states that the time has now gone to appeal. It was stupid of me I know and even going in the zone I just completely overlooked it. But I have posted this to share with you all the consequences of what can happen when going into these zones and not having your wits about you and not opening every letter you receive "even if you THINK it is just junk mail"

Bristol City Council added: " "Support is still available to those affected by the zone. Financial assistance is available to businesses and those on lower incomes to help them switch to cleaner vehicles. We are also offering free travel offers to help people try other ways of making their journey. Visit www.bristol.gov.uk/cleanairzone."

Environmental groups have estimated around 300 people die early in Bristol each year due to air pollution and the government was legally obliged to implement changes to tackle the problem. The decision was devolved down to local councils including Bath and Bristol who have each run a slightly different charging model to drive into the city.