More than 600 Glasgow City Council vehicles not LEZ compliant

Glasgow City Council is having to hire vehicles because some of its own fleet does not meet new rules on emissions.

More than 600 of its vehicles are not allowed inside the city's Low Emission Zone (LEZ) introduced last week.

The council said only a small number of the non-compliant vehicles were required to enter the zone but they include all its uplift trucks used for parking enforcement.

The GMB union said the cost of hiring vehicles was a waste of resources.

Of the 1,615 vehicles owned by Glasgow City council, 616 are non-compliant meaning they are no longer allowed inside the council's new LEZ.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council told the BBC: "New LEZ compliant vehicles are expected to be delivered to us in the near future and we are also retrofitting existing vehicles to improve emissions standards across our fleet.

"LEZ compliant vehicles have been hired in the short term to ensure emissions standards are met and this will allow older vehicles to be taken out of service in line with our ongoing fleet replacement programme."

The spokesperson added the LEZ was crucial to improving air quality in the city centre.

The council's fleet includes a variety of cars, buses, lorries and vans used by to carry out various aspects of council business.

Among the non-complaint vehicles is a limousine used to by the council's Lord Provost, according to the Scottish Daily Express.

The LEZ covers an area from the M8 motorway to the north and west of Glasgow, the River Clyde to the south, and the Saltmarket/High Street to the east.

The restrictions were introduced last week but similar restrictions have been in place for buses and heavy good vehicles since 2018.

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Speaking on BBC Scotland's Drivetime, Chris Mitchell from the GMB union said the council "should have thought of this a long time ago".

Mr Mitchell, who works as a refuse collector for the council said: "The majority of the vehicles I deal with are non-complaint for the LEZ because they are the best part of 15 years old and obviously we still need to provide a service within the city centre.

"Unfortunately they've had to hire in a number of vehicles at a pretty penny, at a cost to the council - well, at a cost to the taxpayer."

Mr Mitchell said the types of vehicles being hired were "small flat-bed" vehicles, used for collecting rubbish.

The Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said no new bin lorries had been hired to meet LEZ requirements although some lorries were hired under a pre-existing arrangement.

She was unable to provide a figure at this time for the cost of hiring replacement vehicles.