Embassies' C-Charge Bills Cost Londoners £5 Each

Unpaid Congestion Charge incurred by diplomatic cars amounted to a staggering £36 million last year. The biggest bill belongs to the US embassy, presumably saving every dime for the new pad in Nine Elms. TfL are shouldering the mammoth bill at a time when they can ill afford it but they generously note that 74% of embassies are now coughing up, thanks to intervention by the Foreign Office. The Mayor recently declined to take a personal role in writing to the remaining embassy evaders and rejected a name and shame approach. As Lib Dem Caroline Pidgeon suggests, it's surely time for him to stop "flip-flopping" on the issue and call those fivers in. (Image / Massimo Usai)