Motorists are being fined for leaving their diesel engines running, in a move aimed at cutting pollution. A council has begun issuing on-the-spot £20 penalties for drivers who fail to turn their engines off when they are stationary, leading to claims it is introducing a ‘stealth tax’. Others are likely to follow suit in order to meet European environmental targets. Scroll down for video . Motorists are being fined for leaving their diesel engines running, in a move aimed at cutting pollution . The draconian measures, in place in Islington, North London, are yet another blow to drivers with diesel cars. London mayor Boris Johnson has already revealed plans to charge them £10 extra to enter the centre of the capital from 2020. Communities minister Brandon Lewis called the fines a way to ‘tax drivers by stealth’ and warned that they could push people away from high streets. Councils gained the power to issue penalties for idling in 2002 but the rule has not been widely enforced until now. Officials from Islington Council in North London are to issue the on-the-spot fines, and will target buses, lorries and diesel cars . Officials from Islington council have claimed they will target lorries, buses and diesel cars. Mr Lewis told the Daily Telegraph the policy was symptomatic ‘of a clipboard-wielding culture in many town halls where every response to a policy challenge involves a new tax or a fine on local residents’. Islington councillor Claudia Webbe said: ‘We are committed to improving air quality, which is why we are clamping down on idling buses, lorries and diesel cars. ‘We need Boris Johnson to do his share by introducing a low-polluting bus fleet, and addressing the high number of polluting lorries that travel through our streets on a daily basis.’
Islington Council to issue fines if diesel drivers leave their engines running .
On-the-spot £20 penalties have been described as a 'stealth tax'
Council officials will target lorries, buses and diesel cars .
Other local authorities may follow suit .
Motorists are being fined for leaving their diesel engines running, in a move aimed at cutting pollution. A council has begun issuing on-the-spot £20 penalties for drivers who fail to turn their engines off when they are stationary, leading to claims it is introducing a ‘stealth tax’. Others are likely to follow suit in order to meet European environmental targets. Scroll down for video . Motorists are being fined for leaving their diesel engines running, in a move aimed at cutting pollution . The draconian measures, in place in Islington, North London, are yet another blow to drivers with diesel cars. London mayor Boris Johnson has already revealed plans to charge them £10 extra to enter the centre of the capital from 2020. Communities minister Brandon Lewis called the fines a way to ‘tax drivers by stealth’ and warned that they could push people away from high streets. Councils gained the power to issue penalties for idling in 2002 but the rule has not been widely enforced until now. Officials from Islington Council in North London are to issue the on-the-spot fines, and will target buses, lorries and diesel cars . Officials from Islington council have claimed they will target lorries, buses and diesel cars. Mr Lewis told the Daily Telegraph the policy was symptomatic ‘of a clipboard-wielding culture in many town halls where every response to a policy challenge involves a new tax or a fine on local residents’. Islington councillor Claudia Webbe said: ‘We are committed to improving air quality, which is why we are clamping down on idling buses, lorries and diesel cars. ‘We need Boris Johnson to do his share by introducing a low-polluting bus fleet, and addressing the high number of polluting lorries that travel through our streets on a daily basis.’
on-the-spot £20 penalties for drivers who fail to tax’. Others are likely to follow suit in order leaving their diesel engines running, in a move Council in North London are to issue the on-the-spot fines, and will target buses, lorries and diesel cars . Officials from Islington council have claimed they will target lorries,