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The London low-emission zone (LEZ) plan is seriously flawed and will not improve air quality, says the FTA.

Its Greater London Freight Council slammed the scheme last week for being chaotic, saying that plans to retrofit older vehicles with the particulate traps will not work as they are unsuitable for stop-start  journeys.

Transport for London will not be able to identify which vehicles, first registered in 2001, have Euro 2 or Euro 3 engines and some pre-Euro 3 vehicles will be allowed in because they already meet the particulate standards, the Council said.

It went on to note that while the Mayor wants to reduce NOx, a Euro 1 truck could be adapted to comply with the scheme but produce four times as much NOx as a Euro 5 vehicle. Vehicles running on biodiesel whose emission levels are already within the limits will be penalised.

It is impossible to identify whether foreign-registered vehicles comply with the London standards or not, the Council asserts, pointing out the chances are that they will neither have to comply nor pay the fine.

"The plans to enforce the the LEZ are nothing short of a shambles and are grossly unfair," says Gordon Telling, FTA head of policy for London and the South-East.

Telling  says that from February 2008 LEZ will cover all vehicles weighing 12 tonnes or more. From July 12 it will cover all vehicles from 3.5 tonnes; vans from 1.2 tonnes will be covered by 2010.

All vehicles will have to comply with Euro 3 regulations on particulates. From 2012 vehicles have to comply with the Euro 4 standards. The cost for non-compliant vehicles is either £200 per day or a £1,000 fine.