Porsche to take Livingstone to court on congestion charge

Luxury car company Porsche is to carry out its threat to take London Mayor Ken Livingstone to court over the new £25 congestion charge in the capital for the highest-polluting vehicles.The German sports car manufacturer announced last month that it would submit an application for judicial review to the Royal Courts of Justice unless the Mayor reconsidered the policy.

But in a formal reply to Porsche today, Mr Livingstone and Transport for London (TfL) made it clear they would go ahead with the charge, saying it was legal and proportionate.Porsche said it would therefore file a request for judicial review. Mr Livingstone will then have 21 days to acknowledge the Porsche claim.

Responding to the Mayor's decision, Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars GB, said: "The new £25 charge will have no meaningful impact on congestion and TfL's own figures show the anticipated CO2 emissions savings in a year could be equivalent to less than four hours of emissions from Heathrow.

Under the new congestion charge regime, due to come into force on October 27, owners of high-polluting vehicles will have to pay £25 to enter central London.The vehicles affected are those that emit more than 225g of CO2 per kilometre and those registered before March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000cc.

Vehicles emitting less than 120g of CO2 per kilometre will be eligible for a 100% discount on the congestion charge.Of the cars currently being driven in London's congestion charging zone, 17% would be liable for the £25 charge and just 2% would receive the total discount.

© Source: autotrader
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