Manchester Clean Air Zone
You won't be charged for driving a car, van, taxi or lorry in Manchester, because the city has no charging clean air zone. This holds for petrol, diesel and electric vehicles alike, and for any age of vehicle.
Greater Manchester's clean air zone as it stands now
A clean air zone is a place where high-polluting older vehicles must pay a fee for each day they enter. Greater Manchester has no zone of this kind. Instead, in January 2025 the government gave the green light to the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan, which relies on investment to bring pollution down rather than daily charges.
So there's no camera ready to catch you and no daily fee to budget for. The whole of Greater Manchester is covered by this, not only the centre.
Greater Manchester today
- No chargefor any vehicle
- January 2025plan approved without a charging zone
Government approved Greater Manchester's investment-led Clean Air Plan without a charging zone in January 2025.
These figures come from Clean Air Greater Manchester.
Is an older diesel car allowed in Manchester?
Yes. Greater Manchester charges nothing for older diesel cars, and older petrol cars and vans are treated the same way. Your vehicle can keep doing what it does today.
Other cities are a different story. Take a diesel car registered in March 2014. Manchester charges it nothing, Birmingham charges £8 a day, and London charges £12.50 a day.
What do other English cities charge each day?
If your travels take you beyond Greater Manchester, here are the daily fees for a car or van that falls short of a zone's rules.
- Greater Manchester: no fee for either cars or vans
- London ULEZ: cars pay £12.50 and vans pay £12.50
- Birmingham: cars pay £8 and vans pay £8
- Bristol: cars pay £9 and vans pay £9
- Bradford: cars pay nothing, vans pay £9
- Sheffield: cars pay nothing, vans pay £10
- Newcastle and Gateshead: cars pay nothing, vans pay £12.50
Only older vans, taxis, buses and lorries pay in Bradford, Sheffield and Newcastle, so a private car enters free.
Finding out if your vehicle passes the rules elsewhere
Charging zones look at your Euro standard. That's the emissions level the vehicle was built to, and most zones that charge ask for Euro 4 on petrol and Euro 6 on diesel. Petrol cars first registered from 2006 mostly reach Euro 4, and diesel cars first registered from September 2015 mostly reach Euro 6.
For newer vehicles, TfL says you may find the Euro standard in section D.2 of the V5C, your vehicle logbook. The TfL and GOV.UK checkers look up your vehicle's own record, so their answer is the one that counts.
Electric cars and vans pass in every zone, so they never pay.
Questions people often ask
Will a drive through Manchester cost you anything?
No. Passing through Greater Manchester on your way to somewhere else is free, city centre roads included.
Was the Manchester Clean Air Zone cancelled?
The plan that was approved contains no charging zone. Ministers signed off the investment-led approach in January 2025, and the Clean Air Greater Manchester questions page has the full details.
What to know about Birmingham's Clean Air Zone
The zone covers the area inside the A4540 Middleway, though not the Middleway itself. Payment is open from 6 days before your trip until 6 days after. Miss it and the penalty is £120, reduced to £60 for early payment. Lorries that fall short of the rules are charged £50 a day.
What to know about London's clean air zone
London calls its zone the ULEZ, which stands for Ultra Low Emission Zone. It runs across all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London, and it operates around the clock every day of the year apart from Christmas Day. You can settle up by midnight three days after your trip, or as much as 90 days in advance. A missed payment costs £180, dropping to £90 when you pay within 14 days.