Pay a parking, bus lane or Clean Air Zone Penalty Charge Notice

In line with the GOV.UK: Data Protection Act 2018, the Council and the DVLA are unable to provide information using a Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) to confirm whether an individual has entered the Clean Air Zone (CAZ). This is because A VRN is classed as personal data.

We are unable to confirm whether an individual contacting us about a VRN is in fact the registered keeper of the vehicle. Therefore, sharing this information could identify an individual and details of their location, which would lead to a data breach and potential safe-guarding issues.

We will however always aim to help an individual to retrace their route and have a series of prompts, including using the online CAZ boundary map, to plot likely routes they took from A to B.

Why we can use a VRN to issue a Penalty Charge Notice but not to check if you’ve entered the CAZ

The Council determines whether a vehicle entering the CAZ is liable for a CAZ charge using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. These capture data and upload it into a national database, this database is managed by the DVLA.

The Council does capture Vehicle Registration Numbers on its ANPR cameras. However, a rigorous data protection policy is in place to ensure the information is used correctly through the Council’s agreement with the DVLA’s Keeper of a Vehicle at the Date of an Event (KADOE) service.

Through this agreement, the Council is only provided with relevant information to identify who the owner of a vehicle is and to issue a PCN, should enforcement be required. We are not able to use the data from KADOE for purposes other than those agreed.

For more information about how Sheffield City Council uses personal data in relation to the Clean Air Zone, please see our Privacy Notice.