FOREIGN diplomats owe more than £110 million in congestion charges in London – up £5 million in the past year.
But new figures yesterday revealed the US alone now owes a staggering £11.9 million – with 99,150 unpaid charges. Japan owes £8 million.
America has long treated the congestion charge as a tax – so insists diplomats don’t have to pay it.
And it said a minority of diplomatic missions were refusing to pay their rates bills – which helps pay for “specific services such as street cleaning and street lighting”. Sudan tops the list, owing £137,122.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said it had held “meetings with a number of missions”. “FCO officials also press diplomatic missions and international organisations to pay outstanding fines and debts,” it added.
But the AA said Brits would wish they could escape the eye-watering charges.
The congestion charge in London costs £11.50 for any vehicle entering a zone in the capital between 7am and 6pm.
Jack Cousens, the AA head of roads policy, said: “If only we could all have diplomatic immunity from a charge that delivers little in the way of reducing congestion.
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“Government figures show that the Greater London Authority made a £175 million profit from congestion charging last year. That would’ve been considerably higher had devious diplomats paid their dues.
“£440,000 in unpaid parking fines, a tenth of the £400 million London councils made from parking last year, is a huge amount of money. It’s a shame they don’t send the bailiffs round in the same way they chase normal drivers.”
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News Pictures Foreign diplomats owe more than £110million in unpaid congestion charges in London
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TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
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kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/NINTCHDBPICT000004509406.jpg?strip=all&w=960
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