£11million owed in Congestion Charge penalties

5.00.00pm GMT Fri 21st Sep 2007

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly have revealed that 148 countries have outstanding Penalty Charge Notices after failing to pay the Congestion Charge. On August 1st 2007, 124,497 penalties were outstanding at a total cost of £11,224,023.

The largest number of fines outstanding have been incurred by the US embassy - 18,983 tickets that equates to £1,853,145 due to be paid. Other offenders include Nigeria (£810,000), Japan (£658,440) , Germany (£499,250) and Russia (£458,200).

Geoff Pope, Lib Dem Transport spokesperson on the London Assembly said:

"Although the best solution would be for the diplomats themselves to do the right thing and pay up, Ken Livingstone could solve this problem altogether by encouraging and working with embassies to switch their diplomatic cars to low-emission or hybrid vehicles. Now the Congestion Charge has spread westwards, many more now incur the Charge and it's unfair to law abiding Londoner's who pay the daily charge that others using the same road space are getting away scot-free."