‘ULEZ is going to force me to quit my job and have to return on Universal Credit’-says desperate Harold Hill mum.

Karen is a mum of three from Harold Hill and has just recently got her dream job as a mental health support worker here in Havering, but now faces having to quit her work and return on Universal Credit as she cannot afford a new vehicle and is not entitled to apply for the scrappage scheme as the ULEZ expansion takes place next August.

Karen has four year old twins and an eight year old son who has Aspergers and needs her current vehicle to drop her children off at school and then go to work from there.

She told the Havering Daily:

“I have a seven seater vehicle and I know people will criticise me for it but unfortunately it is the only way I can get my family about. My son has Aspergers which means at times he has complete melt downs and as such needs to sit on his own at the back. I cannot put him next to the twins and cannot place him in the front seat as he will open the windows, pull the gear stick and make the conditions very difficult for him and for me driving.

“I need the car to drop my children off in the morning and from there, go to work and the same on the return journey to collect them. I can’t rely on public transport and I don’t have enough time once I have finished work to get to their school on the bus. I also do not have enough money to buy a new vehicle and do not qualify for the scrappage scheme, so what do I do? My only option is quit my job in August and go back on Universal Credit.”

Karen is extremely upset at the idea of having to give up a job she really enjoys due to the expansion of ULEZ.

“I was on Universal Credit whilst my children were at home, now that they are at school I have found a job I really enjoy and fits with my school hours. The ULEZ expansion is putting me in a nightmare position and I really do not know what to do. If I am forced to quit my job and go back on Credit, I will then be penalised for giving up my job and land up having to be months without any income. This really is awful and it is putting so many people in positions they cannot afford to be in.”