Driving in Portsmouth: Portsmouth Clean Air Zone (Class B)

Portsmouth, United Kingdom · Low emission zone

In force in Portsmouth right nowTuesday, 13 October 2026 at 10:05 · Europe/London

The zone runs continuously; whether you pay depends on what you drive, which this does not check. A car, a motorcycle and a van are outside the charge at every hour — this is the only English zone where that is true of a van.

Portsmouth's own pages give no closing hour and no exempt day, so the timetable here says the scheme is always on rather than inferring a working-hours window.

Operating times only, read from the source below. It does not check your vehicle.

What applies

Portsmouth is the only Class B Clean Air Zone in England, and that one letter is the whole story: a Class B zone reaches buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, and stops there. Private cars, motorcycles and vans are not charged — vans are charged in every other English zone and are not charged here.

The zone has run since 29 November 2021 and charges £10 a day for a non-compliant taxi or private hire vehicle and £50 a day for a non-compliant HGV, bus or coach. Some larger motorhomes are classed as HGVs by the DVLA, which is the one way a private journey can end up paying.

Source: Cleaner Air Portsmouth, read 2026-09-11
Full citation

Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council)

Daily charge

There is no charge for a private car, a motorcycle or a van in Portsmouth. That is not a missing figure: Portsmouth is a Class B zone, its own charge page prints "NOT CHARGED" against private cars, motorcycles and vans, and its FAQ states that "Vans and cars are currently not being charged following government approved plans in accordance with the Class B CAZ".

The vehicles that do pay are non-compliant taxis and private hire vehicles at £10 a day, and non-compliant HGVs, buses and all coaches at £50 a day. The one trap is size rather than use: a larger motorhome registered as an HGV pays the £50.

When it operates

The charge is a daily one and is paid for the day the vehicle enters the zone. You must pay when you enter; the payment window runs from six days before the journey to six days after it, and nothing will remind you.

Source: Cleaner Air Portsmouth, read 2026-09-11
Full citation

Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council)

Area covered

Portsmouth City Council does not describe the boundary in words. It publishes the zone as a map and — unusually, and more usefully — as the full list of postcodes inside it, so you can check a destination exactly rather than by eye. There are 55 cameras within the zone.

Approaching it you will see blue warning signs with a cloud symbol, placed far enough out to let you reroute; at the entry points the signs are white, with a cloud symbol and the letter "B".

Source: Portsmouth City Council, read 2026-09-11
Why there is no map here
Portsmouth publishes the zone as an embedded map and as a list of the postcodes inside it, which is more useful than most councils manage but is still not geometry. Its charging order annex — "Annex 1 Part 1 and 2 — Clean Air Zone Boundary Plans" — is a set of drawings. The national catalogue does not have it: a search of data.gov.uk on 2026-09-11 returned Clean Air Zone boundaries for Sheffield, Birmingham and Bradford and none for Portsmouth. The council offers to supply a shapefile on request by email, and we have not asked: a file obtained by private correspondence carries no published licence we could quote, and writing to a council in the project's name is not a step we take without Gábor. Until a licensed layer is published, the warning for this zone stays city-level.

The authority's own map: Portsmouth City Council

Petrol standard

Euro 4 petrol or newer is compliant. Older than that is charged — but only for the four vehicle types the Class B zone reaches, so a pre-Euro 4 petrol car or van is not charged in Portsmouth at all.

Source: Cleaner Air Portsmouth, read 2026-09-11
Full citation

Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council)

Diesel standard

Euro 6 diesel or newer is compliant. An older diesel bus, coach, taxi, private hire vehicle or HGV pays; an older diesel car or van does not, because the scheme never reaches those classes.

Source: Cleaner Air Portsmouth, read 2026-09-11
Full citation

Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council)

Penalty if you do not comply
£120.00Source: Portsmouth City Council, read 2026-09-11
How to comply
  • If you drive a car, a motorcycle or a van, there is nothing to pay in Portsmouth. Do not carry that across to another English city — every other English Clean Air Zone charges vans.
  • If you drive a chargeable vehicle, pay on the government's central Clean Air Zone service or by phone. The window is six days before travel to six days after, and no reminder is sent.
  • Check a destination against the council's published postcode list rather than guessing from the map — it is the one English zone that publishes the postcodes inside it.
  • You can get a refund if you pay in advance and then decide not to enter, but you must apply by 6pm the day before the travel date, and £3 is kept as an administration fee.
  • If you drive in anyway after requesting a refund, you may get a Penalty Charge Notice. The fine is £60 inside the first 14 days and £120 after that, on top of the original daily charge, and you have 28 days to challenge it.
Source: Cleaner Air Portsmouth, read 2026-09-11
Full citation

Cleaner Air Portsmouth (Portsmouth City Council)

Sources

Next scheduled re-check: 2026-12-10.

Before you set off

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