Drivers risk being kicked off UK roads within months for failing to meet Low Emission Zone rules

The warning comes after a popular company which converts non-compliant vehicles into ones which fit the LEZ specifications went into liquidation.

Before the company went bust it had a huge backlog of vehicles waiting to be converted into roadworthy for the city.

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Transport Scotland found that 26 tax operators were on the waiting list for their vehicles to be retrofitted to LEZ rules before the company closed.

To be in line with the LEZ rules, taxis must meet the Euro 4 emissions standard for petrol vehicles or the Euro 6 emissions for diesel cars.

Cab drivers were previously warned they would need to be compliant before June 2023, when the LEZ began enforcing rules and issuing fines.

But in some cases, Glasgow City Council offered drivers exemptions from the LEZ but this is due to expire in October, according to The Herald.

When the exemptions end, roughly 225 operators currently driving under an exemption will be forced to adhere to the rules or risk huge fines.

Drivers are charged £60 for entering a LEZ in Scotland. This fee is then doubled to £120 for a further infraction and rises sharply to £480 for other additional penalties.

In May, Glasgow Taxis wrote to the council urging it to extend the June 1 deadline for compliance by at least 12 months, which would give the industry enough time to transform its vehicles.

The letter read: “The vast majority of the taxi operators in Glasgow support the Council’s commitment to improving air quality. Most operators now have an identified pathway to full LEZ compliance but, for many, it will simply not be achievable over the next two weeks."

It added: “Without any attempt to belittle the wider environmental considerations, and Glasgow’s role in improving its own air quality, surely the City Council agrees with our contention that this cannot be allowed as the justification for the loss of 350 viable small Glasgow businesses.

“Glasgow Taxis asks that Glasgow City Council uses the powers available to allow those taxi operators to continue to trade beyond June 1, 2024, and moreover to continue to serve the needs of the City.

“As the vehicles and solutions become available over the coming year – and, where deemed necessary, to allow such small businesses to offset their emissions as per many other larger UK and international companies operating in Glasgow.”

Since the LEZ became operational in June 2023, the council has issued 42,197 fines under the standard £60 penalty which has raised a total of £2.5million.

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Glasgow's LEZ operates 24 hours a day, all year round. Its zone covers an area of the city centre situated around the M8 motorway to the north and west, the River Clyde to the south and Saltmarket/High Street to the east.

The LEZ was introduced across Scotland in 2022 and is in place across Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee and Edinburgh restricting the most polluting vehicles from entering certain areas.