London tourist crackdown: Open-top buses face parking ban due to toxic emissions

Westminster council has warned travel operators coach parking spaces are at risk of being removed unless more is done to crackdown on harmful toxic emissions. In an ongoing dispute, Westminster said in an open letter, parking spaces “will be taken away if drivers continue to idle their engines and pump toxic fumes into the air”. Westminster currently has 68 parking spaces for coaches and could be replaced with electric vehicle charging points, small parks or cycle bays in a major overhaul.

Coach services are used to give paying customers prime views of popular attractions, including Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square.

Transport from the West End is also used to see the sights further afield including Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street and the National Gallery.

Tim Mitchell, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said travel operators have so far been “incredibly supportive of our efforts to stop idling and improve air quality.”

Mr Mitchell warned more action is needed as the council is “pretty fed up” and time has come for companies to “clean up their act”.

He told The Times: “Hundreds of coaches enter Westminster every day, delivering visitors and schoolchildren to some of our famous hotspots, so if we’re going to tackle air pollution in our city, then we need these companies to clean up their act.

“Our approach has always been to ask nicely but there has been little or no response from some of these coach companies. If coach drivers persistently engine idle, we’ll simply remove the bay and turn it into a parklet or similar. Our residents would certainly prefer it.”

The proposal comes amid a warning from medical professionals that air pollution is linked to the deaths of 40,000 people in the UK every year and costs £20 billion.

Dr Ben Marshall, a consultant in respiratory medicine at University Hospital Southampton said: “Air pollution harms the health of millions of people, particularly young children and those with respiratory and heart problems, and is a huge and growing public health issue.

“We are behind as a society in recognising the significance of this problem, with around 40,000 deaths a year in the UK linked to air pollution and associated health problems costing some £20 billion annually.”

Dr Marshall has also called for more action to reduce diesel car usage and has encouraged people to walk rather than use transport to reduce their carbon footprint.

London has been a hotbed from climate change, in April large parts of the Capital was brought to a standstill during an Extinction Rebellion protest.

Protests in Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch led to road closures and traffic gridlock for 10 days.