Skip to content
My MOT CheckerSources

Clean air zones · England

Bath Clean Air Zone: does your car pay?

No. Bath's zone is Class C, so private cars and motorbikes don't pay, even when they're used for work. It charges vans, taxis, minibuses, buses, coaches and lorries that miss the standard.

← All UK clean air zones

The Bath zone at a glance

Private carsDon't pay
ClassClass C
Who it affectsTaxis and private hire vehicles, minibuses, vans (including some campervans, pick-ups and 4x4s registered as vans), buses, coaches and lorries, including large motorhomes and horseboxes. Cars and motorbikes aren't charged.
StandardEuro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel, the same as London's ULEZ. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged. It only matters here if you drive a van, taxi or larger vehicle.
In forceCharging started on 15 March 2021.
WhereBath city centre. The council publishes a map and a postcode checker.
Run byBath and North East Somerset Council

How it’s enforced

It's a daily charge, midnight to midnight. You can pay on GOV.UK up to 6 days before, on the day, or by 23:59 on the 6th day after; there's no automatic bill, so an unpaid charge becomes a penalty charge notice. Discounts and exempt journeys are logged through the council's MiPermit service rather than GOV.UK.

Bath and North East Somerset Council listed £9 a day for vans, taxis and minibuses and £100 for buses, coaches and lorries on 25 September 2026. The penalty was £120 plus the charge, or £60 if paid within 14 days. Amounts change, so check Bath and North East Somerset Council before you rely on them.

What our check tells you

Enter a registration above and the report gives a ULEZ and clean air zone verdict. The Bath zone uses the same bar as London’s ULEZ, so one verdict covers both. The check works from the vehicle’s first registration date, using the rule of thumb that petrol cars from January 2006 and diesel cars from September 2015 generally meet the standard. Some older petrol cars comply too, and the V5C is the final word. Before you drive in, confirm on the GOV.UK clean air zone vehicle checker.

Private cars don’t pay in Bath, so for a car the verdict only matters elsewhere; here it applies to vans, taxis and larger vehicles. Motorcycles aren’t charged in any zone outside London, so ignore the Euro 3 line on a motorbike’s result.

How many local vehicles fall before the cut-off dates

Of the 251,898 cars and light vans that took an MOT in the BA (Bath) postcode area in 2025, 32.5% were petrol vehicles first registered before 2006 or diesels first registered before September 2015. Across Great Britain the figure was 26.7%.

Measured from DVSA’s anonymised MOT test results for 2025, one count per vehicle, by the postcode area of the test station. A postcode area is bigger than the zone itself, and a vehicle before the cut-off date is likely, though not certain, to miss the standard. Cars under 3 years old don’t take an MOT, so they aren’t in the count, and all of them meet the standard.

Exemptions and discounts

  • Large motorhomes and horse transporters can register for the £9 rate instead of £100
  • Agricultural and health service vehicles
  • Many earlier exemptions, including Blue Badge and wheelchair-accessible taxis, ended in March 2023, and a further batch in March 2025

Summarised from the operator’s pages. Most exemptions need an application before you travel.

Questions

Do cars pay the Bath Clean Air Zone?

No. Bath's zone is Class C, so private cars and motorbikes don't pay, even when they're used for work. It charges vans, taxis, minibuses, buses, coaches and lorries that miss the standard.

Which vehicles does the Bath zone affect?

Taxis and private hire vehicles, minibuses, vans (including some campervans, pick-ups and 4x4s registered as vans), buses, coaches and lorries, including large motorhomes and horseboxes. Cars and motorbikes aren't charged.

What standard does my vehicle need to meet in Bath?

Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel, the same as London's ULEZ. Motorcycles and mopeds aren't charged. It only matters here if you drive a van, taxi or larger vehicle.

When did the Bath zone start?

Charging started on 15 March 2021.

How is the Bath zone enforced?

It's a daily charge, midnight to midnight. You can pay on GOV.UK up to 6 days before, on the day, or by 23:59 on the 6th day after; there's no automatic bill, so an unpaid charge becomes a penalty charge notice. Discounts and exempt journeys are logged through the council's MiPermit service rather than GOV.UK. Bath and North East Somerset Council listed £9 a day for vans, taxis and minibuses and £100 for buses, coaches and lorries on 25 September 2026. The penalty was £120 plus the charge, or £60 if paid within 14 days.

Sources

Rules checked against these pages on 25 Sep 2026. This site isn’t connected to Bath and North East Somerset Council; their site is the final word on who pays.

Other UK zones