"It's a miscarriage of justice": Material Things spends months battling £2,000 of ULEZ fines incurred by fraudulent London driver

Material Things, in Farlington, has been the victim of fraud after a London driver racked up £2,000 worth of ultra low emission zone fines in the furniture shop’s name.

Matt Gingell, sales director, said: “It was back in October when we got the letter which was dated September 30 and we scrambled around trying to find out whose van it was but when we saw the image on the fine, we knew it wasn’t ours - it looked like a maintenance van because it had reflective signs on it.

“It’s the most unbelievable miscarriage of justice. It’s really ridiculous because we were expected to pay for those fines which ran into £2,000.”

After contacting DVLA, TFL (Transport for London) and Hampshire police for advice, Matt contested the fines but TFL issued a notice of rejection to the appeal at the end of December.

“It’s crazy that someone was able to put their car in our name and then rack up all these fines but we don’t own it”, Matt explained.

He continued: “DVLA were brilliant, TFL were horrific. I phoned them the moment we got these fines and said it has never belonged to us, we have never previously owned it and that somebody has just put it in our name - it’s nothing to do with us.”

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Despite receiving the rejection notice, Matt continued to fight against the multiple charges, resulting in a postal hearing tribunal scheduled to take place on February 16, 2026.

However Material Things has now received a letter from TFL this week informing them that “no further action will be taken” after assessing the evidence provided.

Matt added: “Somebody with an ounce of common sense has now looked at our case and decided not to pursue it but it took four months of battling with them to get to that point which is scary.

“I wanted to sue for costs because I’ve spent a week of my time writing letters, getting legal advice, scanning information and sending it all over but supposedly we’re not going to get anywhere with it. It was overwhelmingly obvious that it is nothing to do with us.

“To be honest, there were two sides to it. There was relief and anger because it even got to that point. I almost wanted it to go to tribunal to show them how ridiculous it was.

“We’ve now got to make sure we have nothing to do with this vehicle in the future.”

TFL have been contacted for a comment.