A South London resident said she has gone into debt “for the first time in her life” after buying a car that is ULEZ compliant to be able to visit her father’s grave.

The woman living in Eltham, Greenwich, contacted Conservative councillor Patricia Greenwell to share her devastation at the situation.

Under the ULEZ scheme, people across Greenwich will have to pay £12.50 from August this year to drive through the borough if their car is not deemed environmentally friendly enough.

The topic was discussed during members’ questions at a Greenwich Council meeting on March 29.

Cllr Greenwell said at the meeting: “The resident that I was referring to in my particular email about the loss of her car and how devastated she was and how it affected her health has recently, very recently in the last few days, told me that for the first time in her life she has had to go into debt in order to be able to afford to buy a car that will meet her needs and enable her to continue to visit her father’s grave.”

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Cllr Greenwell said the woman had been in a “terrible state” in the lead-up to Easter Sunday, which she said will be the seventh anniversary of her father’s death.

In her initial question to Labour Councillor Averil Lekau, Cllr Greenwell said the resident previously had to sell a car she owned that wasn’t compliant with the guidelines.

The councillor said this left the resident feeling like she would be “trapped in her own home” as a result, and bought a new vehicle to be able to visit her father’s grave.

In response to Cllr Greenwell, the Cabinet Member for Transport said at the meeting that nine out of every ten cars in Greenwich were already compliant with ULEZ guidelines.

Cllr Lekau also offered to send details of the Mayor of London’s scrappage scheme to Cllr Greenwell to pass on to the resident.

She added: “I’m really sorry to hear the concerns of your resident… I think when you hear that, you have to measure that against the thousands that are impacted by pollution and air quality in our borough and then when you look at that, they also need to be heard.”

A Mayor of London spokesperson previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “With around 4,000 Londoners a year dying prematurely from toxic air, it is imperative that the Mayor’s decision to expand the ULEZ should be implemented without delay.”

They added: “For those with the most polluting vehicles, the Mayor has launched his £110m vehicle scrappage scheme – the largest scheme ever launched by any city in the UK – to help low-income Londoners, disabled Londoners and small businesses and charities to replace their old, polluting vehicles.”