BRITAIN’S ‘unluckiest driver’ was hit with a congestion charge fine – while his car was being taken away to be scrapped.
Phil Harris thought he had finally seen the end of penalty notices for accidentally driving his diesel Skoda into a “clean-air zone” by ditching the car and buying a newer motor.
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But the tax adviser was gobsmacked when he was sent a bill for £109 after his car was snapped going through the centre of Bristol – on the back of a pickup truck.
Phil, 40, decided to scrap the “cursed” 10-year-old black Skoda Octavia after getting constant fines, tickets and mechanic bills which set him back thousands of pounds.
That car brought me nothing but bad luck. I was glad to see the back of it
Phil Harris
He blamed Bristol Council’s “ridiculous” Clean Air Zone payment system which he said was designed to “catch people out”.
He reckons he clocked up £700 of fines going through the congestion charge zone by mistake.
And he had to pay £508 to a debt collection agency for a year-old CAZ contravention he did not know about.
On another occasion, he had his car towed after unwittingly parking in a bus lane during rush hour and was fined £60 and had to pay £200 to get it back.
When the Skoda broke down at Michaelwood services on the M5 he was fined £120 after staying for more than three hours while waiting to get the car back on the road.
Phil added: “It took more than a year to get them to cancel that.”
The car – which he bought new for £16,000 – then blew up 18 months ago costing £4,000 for a complete engine rebuild.
Phil was also given three points when he was stopped by a police car for driving through a red light – though he claims it was still on amber.
Phil said: “Maybe I should just get a push bike or a four-seat tandem for the family.”
But hapless Phil has fared no better on two wheels.
He crashed an electric scooter last summer, breaking his arm, and leaving him concussed and a £3,000 bill at the dentist.
Phil finally waved goodbye to the dreaded Skoda, which only had 110,000 miles on the clock, last week and hoped his luck would change.
The system Bristol council uses is designed to catch you out because you have to remember when you went into the zone and then pay for the correct day, but they don’t tell you if you’ve been into it until they send you a fine
Phil
But to his horror, he got a fine through the post on Tuesday showing his car on the back of a recovery truck.
Phil, married to Amy, 38, who works at Bristol University, said: “That was the icing on the cake.
“That car brought me nothing but bad luck. I was glad to see the back of it.
“It wouldn’t even start, so it literally had zero emissions.
“I thought I would scrap it and finally be clear of all the fines it has brought me, but then I got a letter through the post saying I had gone through the clean air zone again.
“It’s just a joke, it’s the lowest emission car you can get because it wouldn’t even start.
“The system Bristol council uses is designed to catch you out because you have to remember when you went into the zone and then pay for the correct day, but they don’t tell you if you’ve been into it until they send you a fine.
“I’m hoping Bristol council will cancel the fine, but knowing my luck they won’t.”
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Phil, who has two boys aged eight and 10 and with another one on the way, replaced the cursed Skoda with a new Citroen C5.
Unfortunately, three days later he reversed it into an air conditioning unit at work and broke the back window and central locking.
Bristol Council has been approached for a comment.
It comes after one couple have been hounded with fines for driving through a city they’ve never even been to.
Andrew and Fiona Robison live 140 miles from Bristol yet have received a dozen Penalty Charge Notices totalling £1,000 for breaching the city’s Clean Air Zone.
The pair own a silver Renault diesel, which doesn’t comply with the legal limits for pollution in the area, with a number plate beginning GY11.
But there is a silver Audi with the registration CY11, which is compliant, making journeys around Bristol.
The unknown motorist’s plate is attached with a dark-coloured bolt very close to the letter ‘C’.
It means the council’s cameras clock it as a ‘G’ and issue a fine to the Robisons – despite the vehicle being a different make and model.
Meanwhile, another driver fears he will have to sell his home after he was fined for driving into a Clean Air Zone without realising.
Henry Franklin, 36, from Bristol, believed his motor complied with council rules when he drove into the city’s CAZ area up to 30 times last month.
But now he faces fines of over £4,000 – as well as the cost of taking fuel-guzzling detours to avoid the CAZ or forking out for a pricey new car.
The overall cost could force the motorist to sell his home or move to a new job.
