The AA is warning that there could be extra minor shunts in Birmingham if drivers try to take last-minute detours to avoid the city’s new £8 charge for entering its clean air zone.

Birmingham Live reports that it has counted 40 different signs in the run-up to the zone as you drive from the busy Five Ways junction (File picture). “How many people unfamiliar with the city would be able to comprehend this information safely at once on a 40mph stretch that’s less than 200 yards long?” the report asks.

An AA spokesman told the site, “The sheer number of signs will lead to a higher risk of people going into the back of each other. Some drivers are bound to turn off somewhere and to either try backing up or turning around. You find that when people realise they are about to go into a bus gate, they will stop to check and then try to back out. Goons follow sat-navs and there’s not a lot you can do about them.”

Birmingham Live quotes a Birmingham City Council statement saying, “The Department for Transport set out the format and standards for road signs and road marking to ensure consistency. They have issued guidance for Clean Air Zone, which does not include an authorised carriageway marking to be used in conjunction with the Clean Air Zone.”

(Picture – Google Street View)