Man straps car plate to body to confuse cameras in protest against driving levy
A business owner has started walking around with his registration plate strapped to his back to trip the Ultra Low Emission Zone cameras in protest against the border being expanded.
Handyman Engin Coban wants to cause a headache for those issuing fines with Catford, in south London, where he lives, being incorporated into the scheme in August.
It currently cuts off 100 metres from his home and so he already has to pay the £12.50 a day charge for non-compliant vehicles but only when venturing to the centre of the city.
The 48-year-old's van, car and motorbike all fail to meet the criteria - and it could be catastrophic for him as a sole trader when the changes come in.
Engin has spent 16 years building up his customer base but now feels like he's being driven out of the capital altogether.
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Engin has been walking around with his number plate strapped to his back for several days (MyLondon)He told MyLondon: "I live 100 metres from the current ULEZ border, when the current border was put in place I had to completely change my business approach. I used to work about 90 per cent of the time in Central London.
"I changed that when the ULEZ border came in previously, deciding to work on jobs closer to my local area. I charge £40 an hour, after £12.50 being taken for a ULEZ charge and then congestion charges, I'd be working for free.
"But now, the new border will include my local area, what do I do now? Move out of London? Leave a customer base that I have built up over 16 years because I don't want to pay £12.50?"
The border expansion comes into place in August (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)He has been 'peacefully protesting' using this method since March 2, aiming to cause more work for TfL by triggering a fine which would then have to be rescinded on review.
He said: "Why make their [those working on ULEZ] lives easy when they are making my life hard?"
He added: "I've seen people talk about smashing the ULEZ cameras but I don't want to do anything illegal.
"But these changes are destroying my livelihood so I thought let me make their lives a little harder. I'm assuming a computer recognises the number plate now but imagine if thousands of people joined in and overwhelmed the system and did the same thing I did."
London motorists driving older, more polluting vehicles must pay up in one of the world's toughest vehicle emissions programmes (AFP/Getty Images)Discussing the reality of the situation, Engin says that he would have to buy another vehicle to keep his business going as it's his sole income but adds that a new compliant van would cost around £12,500.
He adds: "Compliant cars that are second hand have gone up in cost too."
Engin says he hasn't put his prices up in the last 16 years for his customers, adding: "I'm struggling, I'm an honest person, I try and do the best I can.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan (PA)"Everyone's costs are going up and if I put my prices up I feel like I'm moving the problem along and I'm being part of the problem. That's not helping anyone."
Talking about what his ideal situation would be, Engin says: "ULEZ is a fake tax, it's not about pollution but about money, in my ideal world ULEZ would be scrapped completely."
Engin says he hasn't received any ULEZ fines yet.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: "Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to toxic air, with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in London's outer boroughs.
"Expanding ULEZ to outer London will help five million more Londoners to breathe cleaner air, and improve Londoners' health."
An inquest for Ella Adoo Kissi-Debrah in 2013 found that aged just nine, Ella died of a severe asthma attack caused by toxic air - and became the first person to have air pollution on their death certificate.
Ella lived with her family, including mum Roasaland and two siblings, near the busy South Circular Road in Lewisham.
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