Bradford Clean Air Zone
Will your car be charged in the Bradford Clean Air Zone?
Bradford runs a Class C zone — private cars and motorbikes are never charged, whatever their age or fuel, but non-compliant taxis, vans and larger vehicles are. The council has said it will remove the zone once the Government lifts the direction that requires it, but no date is set and the charges still apply. Enter the reg and the free check reads the vehicle's emissions status for the zone.
Free · no sign-up · uses DVLA and emissions data
Bradford Clean Air Zone — the facts
- Zone class
- Class C
- Who's charged
- Non-compliant taxis, private-hire vehicles, vans, minibuses, coaches, buses and HGVs
- Private cars & motorbikes
- Not charged
- Daily charge — taxis, private-hire
- £7 / day
- Daily charge — vans, minibuses
- £9 / day
- Daily charge — buses, coaches, HGVs
- £50 / day
- Compliant standard
- Euro 6 diesel / Euro 4 petrol
- Area
- Inside and including the A6177 outer ring road, extending north along Canal Road and the A650 to take in Shipley and Saltaire
- Operating hours
- 24/7, every day of the year
- Penalty (PCN)
- £120 (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days)
- Launched
- 26 September 2022
- Future of the zone
- Bradford Council has said the zone will be removed once the Government revokes the 2018 ministerial direction that requires it, and is reviewing the scheme to seek the earliest revocation. The council cannot lift it on its own. No date has been set, and the charges below apply in the meantime.
- Official authority
- bradford.gov.uk
Bradford Clean Air Zone
* This data is almost always correct but we cannot guarantee that it is. Please check with the relevant local authority before basing a purchasing decision on it.
What the check tells you
Run the reg and the free report shows this vehicle's status for the zone:
- No chargecompliant, or a private car / motorbike
- £7 / daynon-compliant taxi or private-hire vehicle
- £9 / daynon-compliant van or minibus
- £50 / daynon-compliant bus, coach or HGV
How the Bradford Clean Air Zone works
Bradford's Clean Air Zone is a Class C scheme covering the area inside and including the A6177 outer ring road, extending north along Canal Road and the A650 to take in Shipley and Saltaire. It charges the most polluting commercial vehicles but, unlike a Class D zone, it never charges private cars or motorbikes — whatever their age or fuel.
A vehicle clears the zone if it meets the minimum emissions standard — broadly Euro 6 for diesels and Euro 4 for petrols. Non-compliant taxis and private-hire vehicles pay £7 a day, non-compliant vans and minibuses pay £9 a day, and non-compliant buses, coaches and HGVs pay £50 a day.
The charge has applied every day of the year, around the clock, since the zone launched on 26 September 2022. A missed charge can become a £120 penalty, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days. Running the registration on a free check reads the vehicle's emissions status so you can see where it stands before you buy.
Bradford Council has said it intends to remove the zone, and its leader has argued for scrapping the charges while keeping the enforcement area. It is not a decision the council can take alone: the zone exists because of a ministerial direction issued by Defra in 2018, and the Government's position is that it can only be lifted once Bradford has held legal air-quality levels for two years. The council is reviewing the scheme to seek the earliest revocation of that direction. Until it is revoked, the zone operates and the charges above are payable in full — so treat the emissions status of a van or taxi you are buying as a live cost, not a lapsed one.