Seven in 10 drivers issued with a Ulez penalty charge since the zone expanded have failed to pay the £180 fine, TfL has revealed. Almost a million fines were “outstanding”, owing £218,316,553.

One motorist has clocked up 200 fines and owes TfL £47,682. Drivers who have failed to pay the £12.50-a-day levy have received an average of 12 fines, says Yahoo News.

The figures, published in a freedom of information response, came as TfL commissioner Andy Lord predicted that the Londonwide Ulez would deliver “very significant” improvements to air quality.

He suggested that the first analysis of the impact of the Ulez expansion on roadside pollution – which is due next month – would justify Sadiq Khan’s decision to widen the zone across Greater London last August.

He also denied that the mayor and TfL were engaged in a “war on the motorist”, despite the expanded zone having generated more than £160m in levies and fines by April and being seen by some Londoners as a “tax on drivers”.

Speaking to the Transit Unplugged podcast, Mr Lord said: “There will be a report in the next month or so which will show, six months on, what the impacts and benefits have been of the ultra-low emission zone expansion.

“We are expecting it to be very significant. We already know from our own data that the number of compliant vehicles has increased, and therefore by default the air quality should have improved. We have seen some congestion improvements as well. Some people will say this is us having a ‘war on the motorist’. It absolutely isn’t. It’s around improving air quality. At the same time, if it delivers some traffic easing, that’s great.”