Furious band vows never to return to popular UK city over emission zone fines

A UK band has vowed never to return to a popular UK city because of fines in their low-emission zone.

Sabbra Cadabra, a Black Sabbath tribute act, was meant to perform at Glasgow’s Ivory Blacks venue on Saturday but was forced to cancel over potential fines for breaching the city’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ).

The Manchester-based quartet said they had planned to drive their two vans into the city centre, but they didn’t meet the requirements of the zone. As a result, they would have had to pay £120 to cover both vehicles.

The band said they would have “lost a lot of money” if their performance had gone ahead because of other expenses such as fuel and venue hire.

They claimed that when they booked the venue, they did not know about the recently launched LEZ.

In a statement on Facebook, the band wrote: “Sadly, we are going to have to cancel this Saturday’s gig at Ivory Blacks, Glasgow.

“We’ve just discovered Glasgow introduced a Low Emission Zone fine in June – we weren’t told when we booked the gig.

“Beyond our control, unfortunately, and to reiterate, we knew nothing of this fine when we booked the gig. Pretty frustrated for us and those who’d bought tickets.”

“This looks to be the end of playing in Glasgow and anywhere else that introduces these ridiculous fines.”

Speaking to GlasgowLive, they said they only found out about the LEZ on October 11, giving them no time to arrange alternative transport.

They said this meant they were left with no alternative but to cancel the gig and disappoint hundreds of fans.

They added that Glasgow “will suffer” as a result of its LEZ fines. It is not known whether the same will happen with London after the capital expanded its ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) earlier this year.

The band said: “The irony is that the venue is just a few hundred yards inside the zone, we would have driven into the zone for perhaps just a minute, parked up, unloaded the gear, played until around 11.30pm, reloaded the van, driven out of the zone for perhaps one minute and gone home to Manchester – the best part of a four-hour drive.”

They added: “We were led to believe that we could have incurred fines of between £120-£240 for two vehicles ‘polluting the city’ for all of a couple of minutes!

“It is outrageous. Especially when other cities like Birmingham allow you to pay a charge of £8 and not be instantly fined.

“Sadly, we will never return to Glasgow and now we have shared this, I doubt many other people will too. A real shame as we had a great reception from the fantastic Glaswegians last time we played there. The city will suffer.”

Following the band’s cancellation, a council spokesperson said the LEZ was a public health measure to deal with an issue that has “blighted the city…for decades”.

The spokesperson said: “Glasgow’s LEZ which is based on national legislation, is a crucial public health measure that aims to tackle the harmful air pollution that has blighted the city centre for decades.

“Both short and long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to a wide range of diseases, including asthma and respiratory infections, with evidence also now emerging of links to other conditions including type 2 diabetes and dementia.”

“Scottish LEZs operate by way of a penalty system set in legislation – rather than through an entry fee so as to discourage non-compliant vehicle entry and to maximise the air quality benefits that can be delivered.

“A brand new or electric vehicle is not required in order to enter Glasgow’s LEZ, with pre-enforcement modelling showing that up to 90% of vehicles driving into the zone area were already compliant.”