People face £12.50 fee just to leave home after Ulez camera put up in cul-de-sac

People living in a dead-end cul-de-sac will now be charged £12.50 every time they drive somewhere after an Ulez camera was suddenly erected.

Residents of Headley Close, in Chessington, will be captured on the clean air zone camera whenever they go to work in the morning, and when the return.

They insist placing the camera in their cul-de-sac was a ‘bizarre decision’ as they live on ‘a little road nobody knows about’, MailOnline reports.

Headley Close sits in the borough of Kingston, where Ulez will come into force on August 29 following the controversial expansion.

But a boundary anomaly means when they exit the street onto Chessington Road, they enter Surrey, in the borough of Epsom and Ewell.

The border also seens the A3 Kingston bypass in the Surrey borough cut through the Ulez boundary – leaving Chessington to be ‘Ulez island’.

On a street nearby Headley Close, an Ulez camera has been beheaded.

Beneath it are two cardboard signs strapped to the pole, which read: ‘Our local hero! Top man. Thank you! Up yours Khan!’

With the other reading: ‘Whoever did this we owe you a pint. Cheers mate.’

Resident Svet Vas has already spent up to £70,000 to replace three of his 2016 vans for his building company.

He also uses a trailer to help transport a modified Land Rover to local dirt tracks, but loads it up at the end of the small street he lives on.

Even though the non-Ulez complaint vehicle’s tyres spend only 35 seconds on the road, he will still be charged £12.50 every time.

‘I spent thousands and thousands of pounds modifying so I could put it on the trailer, so I’m legal with the police, with everyone – and then I can’t even unload it now,’ he said. 

Pam, who has lived in the cul-de-sac for 47 years, also shared her frustration.

She said: ‘It’s crazy, it’s crazy, I can’t see why – here we are a little road that nobody knows about on the edge of the area.’

Landscaper Lee Pattermore now uses a garage to support his business A Build Above.

He said he is now out of pocket because both his vans – one of which is just six months too old – now cost him £12.50 a day to use,

He said: ”It’s out of order really. Both vans I’ve got are affected by it – I’ve got this van, and I’ve got a 16 plate, six months out. So that’s really annoying.’

The Ulez has been championed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as essential to bring down deaths linked to air pollution and combat climate change.

But critics say its £12.50 daily charge for drivers of the most polluting vehicles is unfair on thousands of motorists during a cost-of-living crisis and will cause economic damage.

Police launched an operation in April after receiving reports of theft and damage to the cameras. Purported videos of the vandalism have also surfaced online on social media platforms.

‘We are working closely with Transport for London and alongside our investigation into offences already committed we are supporting them to identify new ways to prevent further cameras from being damaged or stolen,’ police commander Owain Richards said in a statement.

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