A WOMAN has been left in panic as she can’t afford to pay her £360 driving fine – now the council are threatening her with bailiffs.
Gemma Simm, who suffers from anxiety, says she can only pay the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) fine over two months but Birmingham City Council won’t let her.
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The 40-year-old claims she cannot pay the fine as a lump sum as she is on Universal Credit, after she failed to pay the CAZ charge to drive into the city centre for a concert.
She says: “If I don’t pay, they’re threatening to send the bailiffs round. If I have got a penalty charge I will pay, but I can’t pay £180 each way.
“I have asked if I can pay it over two months. I can’t get through to anybody.”
Gemma insists that she had no idea about the zone, which charges cars with certain emission levels a fee to enter.
There are more than 300 signs alerting drivers to the restrictions, but she says she was too busy trying to find her destination to notice.
“I didn’t see any signs…If I did it was just a sign of a cloud and I didn’t know what that meant.”
She added that she was concentrating on Google Maps which did not inform her of the £8-a-day charge.
The fuming driver told Birmingham Live that she had found at least five phone numbers for the council, but nobody had given her any support.
“I have now received a letter from county court stating that if I don’t pay they will send the bailiffs. I have sent letters back to them. I have explained I cannot pay this in one go.”
She says the situation has been “really upsetting” and significantly worsened her anxiety.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “Due to data protection rules, we are unable to comment on an individual’s case unless permission is obtained from the registered keeper of the vehicle.
“Failure to pay the daily fee within the 13-day payment window may result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.”
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