Bristol Clean Air Zone
In the Bristol Clean Air Zone you pay £9 a day to drive a car, van or taxi that fails the emissions rules, and lorries are charged £100 daily. The zone takes in the centre of Bristol and operates 24 hours a day, all year round. Charging started on 28 November 2022.
Bristol Clean Air Zone
Most cars meet the rules if first registered from2006 (petrol) or Sept 2015 (diesel)Plenty of petrol cars built between 2001 and 2005 also meet the rules. Type your car's number plate, or the year it was first registered, to get your own answer. Any that don't meet the rules are charged £9 a day.
GOV.UK's official clean air zone checker reads the record held for your vehicle and gives the final answer.
Compare your vehicle across the UK's other zones
- London ULEZ£12.50 a day unless it meets the rules
- London lorry and large van zone (LEZ)Cars don't pay
- Birmingham£8 a day unless it meets the rules
- Bristol£9 a day unless it meets the rules
- BathCars don't pay
- BradfordCars don't pay
- SheffieldCars don't pay
- PortsmouthCars don't pay
- Newcastle and GatesheadCars don't pay
- Oxford£2 to £10 a day (electric cars don't pay)
- Glasgow£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Edinburgh£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Aberdeen£60 fine unless it meets the rules
- Dundee£60 fine unless it meets the rules
Who has to pay?
It comes down to how clean your engine is, and that's judged by its Euro standard. This is a number the vehicle is given when it's built, and the higher it is, the less pollution the engine makes. In Bristol, a petrol vehicle must be Euro 4 or above and a diesel must be Euro 6 or above, per Bristol City Council.
Nearly all petrol cars registered from 2006 onwards meet Euro 4, and plenty of 2001 cars do as well. For diesels, Euro 6 usually applies from September 2015, so a diesel bought new before then will normally be charged. Electric cars and vans are always compliant and pay nothing.
If your car, van or taxi falls short, the charge is £9 a day. Lorries pay £100.
| Vehicle | Daily charge if it isn't compliant |
|---|---|
| Car | £9 |
| Van | £9 |
| Taxi | £9 |
| Lorry | £100 |
Bristol Clean Air Zone at a glance
- £9a day for a car, unless it meets the rules
- 24 hours a dayevery day
- £120penalty if you don't pay, £60 if paid early
- 28 November 2022when charging or enforcement began
These figures come from Bristol City Council.
Bristol Clean Air Zone boundary map
Where the zone is
The zone covers Bristol city centre. Bristol City Council's clean air zone page is the place to check exactly which streets are inside.
How to check your vehicle
The check works from the date the vehicle was first registered, because that date normally reveals the Euro standard the engine was designed to meet. The date is in your V5C, the logbook that came with the vehicle. On newer vehicles the Euro standard may even appear in section D.2 of the V5C, letting you confirm it right there, as Transport for London explains.
If the logbook isn't nearby, the number plate offers a hint. On plates issued from September 2001, the pair of digits that follow the opening 2 letters show how old the vehicle is. March plates use the year, so 26 means March 2026, and September plates add 50, so 76 means September 2026.
GOV.UK's official checker reads the vehicle's own record instead of guessing from the year, so its answer is the final one. It's worth checking there before you drive in, since a missed charge turns into a penalty.
Results by year
This table gives the typical verdict for a car first registered in March of each year. Petrol models reached Euro 4 somewhere in 2001 to 2005, while diesels switched to Euro 6 in 2015, so cars from those years can pass or fail and need the official check.
| First registered | Petrol | Diesel |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 or earlier | Fails | Fails |
| 2001 to 2005 | Mixed results | Fails |
| 2006 to 2014 | Passes | Fails |
| 2015 | Passes | Mixed results |
| 2016 and later | Passes | Passes |
Take a diesel registered in March 2014. It's older than the ones that normally qualify for Euro 6, so in Bristol the usual bill is £9 a day. The changeover dates come straight from the Euro standards: Euro 6 arrived for new models in September 2014 and became universal for new cars in September 2015, as the RAC sets out.
How to pay, and what happens if you miss it
The payment window opens 6 days before your trip and closes 6 days after it, so there's no need to pay up front if your plans aren't fixed. Miss it and a £120 penalty arrives, cut to £60 when you settle early.
Questions people ask
How can I pay the Bristol zone charge online?
Bristol City Council's clean air zone page links to the official way to pay.
Which cars get into the Bristol zone for free?
With a hybrid, what counts is the engine it runs on: a petrol hybrid clears the bar at Euro 4, just like any petrol car, while a diesel hybrid has to hit Euro 6. Most petrol vans first registered from January 2006 qualify too, and the same goes for diesel vans bought new from September 2016 onwards.
Is Bath a Clean Air Zone too?
Yes, Bath's city centre has been a zone since 15 March 2021, though private cars don't pay there. Failing vans and taxis are charged £9 a day in Bath, with lorries at £100, and the payment window there matches Bristol's: 6 days either side of your trip.
How does the London clean air zone differ?
London's zone goes by the name ULEZ and spans all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London, but the M25 sits outside it. Failing cars, vans and motorbikes are charged £12.50 a day, and the money must reach them by midnight three days later, a tighter window than Bristol's.