Rescue charity had to scrap animal ambulances as they were non-Ulez compliant

An emergency animal rescue charity was left £11,000 out of pocket after it was forced to give up its non-Ulez compliant ambulances.

Neil Blackwell, who runs Wallington Animal Rescue, was forced to sell one of the specially equipped vans as the cost of swapping both was too high, even with the scrappage fee.

The scheme was introduced as London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) was expanded to cover the whole city one year ago today, meaning many motorists in the city had to get rid of non-compliant vehicles.

A total of £16 million was paid to 54,000 applicants, with a maximum of £7,000 offered for each van swapped, with the scheme ending September 8.

But this has not been enough for charities and business owners who relied on their vans for work.

Mr Blackwell told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are a very small independent rescue charity, and we could only afford to replace one out of two of vehicles.

‘Having to dispose of one was a really heartbreaking decision but we simply could not afford it, as replacing just one cost us £11,000.’

The charity had spent months kitting out the vehicles to become ambulances for all kinds of wildlife, and were even adapted to hold and treat seals and porpoises.

But with only one vehicle available, Mr Blackwell is now putting in twice as much work to cover the Surbiton area in south west London.

He said: ‘We are a volunteer operation, and we don’t even take a wage from this. But we are one of the only wildlife rescues running here and the amount of call outs we have has gone up astronomically in the last few years.

‘I gave up my job as a paramedic five years ago to pursue this, and we are working so hard to try and keep up the demand with just one ambulance.’

Mr Blackwell said applying for the scrappage scheme was a ‘nightmare’ after he was rejected for the bursary twice.

Transport for London claimed he needed to show his HMRC tax number, despite the fact he runs a charity.

It took four months for his application to be approved, when it was meant to take a matter of days for funds to land into his account.

‘On the form online we said we were a charity from a drop down menu and provided everything they asked for,’ he said.

‘But we would be told the application was declined – twice. It was only after spending hours on the phone with them they told us we needed more tax information, which you only have if you are running a business.

‘It was incredibly stressful, having to ring them and explain we don’t have what they want because we physically don’t have it.’

Other motorists feel they have missed out on some of the money owed to them.

David Bond, who owns engineering shop Tighten Up, applied for the scheme early last summer as he was aware the cost of second hand vans was increasing.

He said when he made the application £5,000 was offered to van owners, but this was later increased to £7,000.

Yet Mr Bond was refused the extra £2,000.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘That money could have meant a lot to me, especially as £5,000 doesn’t touch the side getting a new van anyway. We had to spend £9,500 out of own pocket.’

Other motorists did not even apply for the scheme over fears the specific vehicles needed would be gone by the time they received the money.

Danny Madden, owner of Madden Builders based in north London, said the payment offered ‘doesn’t even even touch’ the £24,000 he spent on a second-hand ULEZ compliant vehicle.

‘We bought our old van for £34,000 in 2014 brand new on the assumption it will last us years and years to come,’ he said.

‘But we got a really bad deal on it when we traded it in because the dealers knew we had no choice but to get rid of it.

‘Then when I went to buy the new truck, the yard owners were honest and said their prices were only going to go up because of the demand for them.

‘There were about four other people looking at the one I got, and there was no way the yard could supply all the new vans needed quickly.’

Christina Calderato, TfL’s Director of Strategy said: ‘The introduction of the London-wide ULEZ has been supported by the UK’s largest ever scrappage scheme, open to all Londoners, as well as small businesses, sole traders and charities with non-compliant vehicles who are based in the capital.

‘To support charities the Mayor expanded the scrappage scheme last July to increase the number of vehicles they were allowed to scrap from one to three and extended the grace period for those retrofitting their vehicles.

‘The evidence requirements ensure the scheme is not subject to fraud and taxpayers’ money is used in the best way.

‘The terms and conditions of the scheme make people aware that the amounts can change and with previous phases of the ULEZ we have been clear that there are no retrospective payments.

‘We encourage anyone who still needs support to submit their application before 8 September.’

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