Handyman whose business faces hit from Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion protests

A handyman whose business will be affected by Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion has launched a walking protest by wearing a license plate on his back to confuse cameras.

Engin Coban lives half a mile outside the current ultra-low emission zone boundary and is already paying £12.50 a day for his three non-compliant vehicles to travel to London.

The 48-year-old says he can’t escape this as most of his work as a handyman is in central London, although the introduction of the charge has forced him to take jobs closer to home to avoid had to pay.

But now he says the proposed extension to the scheme would mean he couldn’t do his job at all without paying the fee and he couldn’t afford to buy a new ULEZ-compliant van, which made him more would then cost £12,000.

Mr Coban, who has lived in Catford for 38 years and has been a handyman for 16 years, has started his own ‘peaceful protest’ by walking around with his number plate strapped to his back to deliberately trigger the cameras and cause headaches for the enforcers the fines.

The 48-year-old has started a ‘peaceful protest’ against ULEZ’s plans by walking past cameras with a license plate on his back

He told My London he had been doing this since March 2, aiming to create more work for TfL by issuing a fine which would then have to be withdrawn at review, although he has not yet received one.

He said, ‘Why do they make their [those working on ULEZ] live easily while they make my life difficult?’

“I’ve seen people talking about destroying the ULEZ cameras, but I don’t want to do anything illegal. But these changes are destroying my livelihood, so I thought let’s make their lives a little harder.

“I suppose a computer now recognizes the license plate, but imagine thousands of people joined in and overwhelmed the system and did the same as me.”

He added that none of his three current vehicles – a van, a car and a motorcycle – are ULEZ compliant, and that he cannot afford to spend £12,500 on a new van, while the cost of second-hand cars that meet the ULEZ has risen to.

Mr Coban said: ‘I live 100 meters from the current ULEZ border, when the current border was introduced I had to completely change my business approach. I used to work in central London about 90 percent of the time.

‘I changed that when the ULEZ border came earlier and decided to work closer to my environment. I charge £40 an hour, after taking £12.50 for a ULEZ charge and then congestion charges, I would work for free.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) currently covering central London will be expanded

The controversial plan was submitted by London Mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured)

“But now the new border will include my own area, what should I do now? Moving from London? Leaving a customer base I’ve built up over 16 years because I don’t want to pay £12.50?’

The frustrated businessman said he faces the unenviable prospect of having to pass the cost of the “fake tax” on to his customers, despite not raising his prices in 16 years.

He said, ‘I’m having a hard time, I’m an honest person, I’m trying to do my best. Everyone’s costs are going up and when I raise my prices I feel like I’m dragging along and part of the problem. Nobody helps with that.’

‘ULEZ is a fake tax, it’s not about pollution but about money, in my ideal world ULEZ would be completely abolished.’

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: ‘Every year around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely from toxic air, with the highest number of deaths from air pollution occurring in the London suburbs.

‘Expanding ULEZ into the London suburbs will help five million Londoners breathe cleaner air and improve the health of Londoners.’