‘This is not about making TfL money... it’s about clean air’

alone. This is down from 137,000 payments a day estimated when Mr Khan confirmed last year that he was going ahead with the expansion, to the inner boundaries of the North and South Circular roads.

Mr Khan said the impact of the Ulez expansion was equivalent to taking 60,000 vehicles off the roads. Levels of transport-related nitrogen oxides are expected to fall by 30 per cent.

He said the 4,000 Londoners a year dying prematurely as a result of pollution meant “doing nothing is not an option”. He added: “This is a landmark day for our city. The expanded Ulez is a vital step towards helping combat London’s illegal air and reducing the emissions that are harming our planet.”

He said in an “ideal world” the scheme, which cost about £130 million to introduce, would not generate cash for TfL as this would mean Londoners were no longer using older polluting vehicles.

Diesel cars more than six years old and petrol vehicles more than 16 years old are likely to have to pay.

Today the London Assembly’s Con

servatives and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) called for a month-long amnesty on the issuing of fines.

There are concerns that some motorists are unaware of the expansion and the zone’s new boundaries, despite the plans first being announced in February 2017. Fourteen boroughs are split in two by the new boundary.

When the Ulez launched in central London in April 2019, a total of 57,268 motorists were sent a warning letter rather than a fine in the first month.

Susan Hall, leader of the GLA Conservatives, said: “The Mayor should forgive drivers for falling foul of the new Ulez boundaries. With many Londoners struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic, a £160 fine each time they unknowingly drive in the new zone will squeeze people to breaking point. A onemonth fines amnesty will give London some time to adapt.”

Michael Lloyd, London infrastructure policy lead for FSB, said: “[We] ask for a month ‘period of grace’ to enable small businesses time to adjust to the Ulez expansion plus ... financial support measures to help take businesses on the net zero journey.”

But health experts and air quality campaigners celebrated the zone’s expansion and urged Mr Khan to go “further and faster”.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said: “The majority of people living in London are still living in areas where pollution levels are dangerously high. We therefore look forward to working with the Mayor to ensure Ulez and other pollution reduction schemes go further and are delivered faster ... to improve the quality of air across the entire capital.”

Mums for Lungs said they were “excited” that the zone would “bring cleaner air to 3.8 million Londoners”. It is one of 10 grassroots organisations to put up 2,000 posters highlighting the Ulez’s benefits.