A bridal shop owner claims she has been forced out of London by the controversial ULEZ scheme after its expansion ‘crippled’ her business.
Linda Quayle said she lost 70 per cent of her customers after the borough fell under the latest roll-out last August.
The Beau Brides boutique was settled in Bexley Village on the Kent-London border and managed to escape the first stage of the charging scheme.
But the latest expansion encompassed her area, forcing Ms Quayle, 56, to leave London and move to Rochester High Street in Kent instead.
Has ULEZ forced YOU to relocate? Email [email protected]
A bridal shop owner claims she has been forced out of London by the ULEZ scheme after its expansion ‘crippled’ business. Ms Quayle pictured with fashion designer David Emanuel
The Beau Brides boutique was settled in Bexley Village on the Kent-London border and managed to escape the first stage of the charging scheme
But the latest expansion encompassed her area, forcing Ms Quayle, 56, to leave London and move to Rochester High Street instead (pictured)
Ms Quayle opened her first store in 2019, selling wedding dresses, prom gowns and offering custom-made dresses made by an in-house seamstress.
Her business managed to hold on through the Covid-19 lockdown – but she despaired for its future after a ULEZ camera was put outside of her front door.
Speaking to KentOnline, she said: ‘I survived lockdown and the cost of living crisis, then Sadiq Khan decides he’s going to put a ULEZ camera right outside my shop.’
She said that ’70 per cent’ of her business ‘went down straight away’.
‘The ULEZ was crippling me. Then the store in Rochester became available and I just went for it,’ she said.
Bexley and Bromley were historically part of Kent, but are now classed as London boroughs.
The controversial scheme was expanded on August 29 to cover the whole of Greater London. Motorists with cars that don’t meet the scheme’s standards – mainly those on low incomes – are forced to pay £12.50-a-day to drive in the zone, or face a fine.
Its roll-out has sparked furious protests and the rise of the ‘Ulez blade runners’, a covert group who attack enforcement cameras that catch out drivers using high-polluting vehicles across the capital.
Sadiq Khan ‘s controversial Ulez scheme will add just 13 minutes to the life expectancy of Londoners as his office finds expansion will have ‘minor’ and ‘negligible’ effects on pollution
The ULEZ scheme means that anyone with a non-compliant vehicle has to pay a daily £12.50 fee to drive within London – or a larger fine if this is not paid
Anti-ULEZ protest outside Down Street on the day the controversial charges were introduced
The bridal shop, which was once a popular bakery, was prime real estate, and Ms Quayle was delighted when she first took it over.
She said the building received a lot of attention when it went on the market, with 14 other people making offers.
The mother-of-three told KentOnline: ‘Shops hardly become available in that area and that was where I really wanted to be.’
She opened her new shop in Rochester on March 9 and said it has been ‘amazing’ and the local community is ‘lovely’.
The ULEZ scheme, designed to limit harmful pollution, means that anyone with a non-compliant vehicle has to pay a daily £12.50 fee to drive within London – or a larger fine if this is not paid.
Most petrol cars registered before 2006 and diesel cars registered before 2015 are non-compliant.
Police face anti-ULEZ activists vandalising or stealing cameras in record numbers, with almost 1,000 offences recorded between April 1 and October 31 this year.
Previously, the ULEZ zone had been restricted to a large area of central London, but the expansion meant it now covers all of Greater London.
Activists opposed to Mr Khan’s flagship policy – which recently expanded to cover the entire city – have attacked hundreds of static cameras
Anti-Ulez vigilantes have damaged hundreds of cameras including this one in Feltham,
ULEZ cameras stolen from traffic lights in Eastcote, Pinner in the Borough of Hillingdon
Its boundaries now extend into Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Buckinghamshire
Analysis found that the Ulez scheme will add just 13 minutes to the life expectancy of Londoners.
Channel 4 News FactCheck calculated the figure after studying data published by the office of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Meanwhile, research from the Mayor’s his own office has found the latest expansion will have ‘minor’ and ‘negligible’ effects on air pollution.
Its rollout has sparked furious protests and the rise of the ‘Ulez blade runners’, a covert group who attack enforcement cameras that catch out drivers using high-polluting vehicles across the capital.
Has ULEZ forced YOU to relocate? Email [email protected]