A Twickenham mother has shared her fury after her son was rejected from the ULEZ Scrappage scheme four times and 'not knowing where to turn'.

Her son, who works as a self-employed plaster and has been registered as a sole trader with HMRC has applied to the ULEZ Scrappage scheme four times but has been rejected each time.

His mother, Julia Birch, told Nub News that the first application, which they submitted on August 20 did contain the wrong insurance information but that all applications since then have had the correct information.

She said: "He'd sent the wrong thing which we completely accept, that was a mistake on our part.

"They accepted everything else with regards to his work status as a sole trader, which was a letter from HMRC."

She explained that they have applied three more times since this and each has been rejected.

She said: "All the applications since then have been rejected on the terms that they won't accept the letter from the government that clearly states that he is a sole trader and has been registered since April 2019.

"All the other documents that we needed to provide, such as his driving licence and MOT are also valid and correct.

She added: "If he doesn't get accepted it will affect him immensely - either he'll have to pass the cost on to clients or front the cost himself which wouldn't be ideal because obviously everyone is in financial difficulty anyway.

"He basically can't leave the front door without having to be charged £12.50 each day on top of everything else. He wants to get a compliant van so that he can continue to trade."

Julia said: "I don't understand how TFL cannot accept an official letter from the tax office and not give a valid as to why. It's ludicrous. It's awful. I couldn't even possibly supply any more information. 

"He's ticked all the boxes as far as TFL is concerned and they just keep shutting the door without a valid reason."

She also explained that each time an application is rejected the process has to restart, which takes 10 days, and that now his MOT is coming up to its expiry date, which is adding extra stress.

TFL has told Nub News that in the case of Mr Birch-Prendergast, the rejection letter was sent in error.

With additional evidence to verify his status as a sole trader now supplied, TfL is progressing with his scrappage application and will be contacting him directly for the outcome of his application.

A TFL spokesperson said: "We apologise for the administrative error in processing Mr Birch-Prendergast's scrappage application.

"Additional documentation was required to support his application as a sole trader, which we have now received. We are progressing with his application and will contact him on the outcome." 

The ULEZ scrappage scheme is a £160 million scheme funded by The Mayor of London which provides financial assistance to help eligible London residents scrap vehicles that don't meet the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) emissions standards.

ULEZ expanded across all London boroughs on 29 August 2023.

TFL aims to process applications within 10 working days but it can take longer if additional verification is needed.

After approving the eligibility of a scrappage application there is then a process to validate a certificate of destruction from a scrapyard which is issued when a vehicle is scrapped.

It takes between 10 -11 working days for the certificate to be validated and payment issued.

Find out more about the ULEZ scrappage scheme and eligibility here.