A SMALL business owner was left "gobsmacked and furious" when his application for a £4,500 grant to be compliant with the new Clean Air Zone was rejected by Bradford Council.

Faisal Aftab runs MK&S Logistics, a Wakefield Road-based courier services company, and he applied for a grant to be compliant with the new Bradford Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which comes into effect on Monday, September 26.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: MK&S Logistics' new Euro 6 vanMK&S Logistics' new Euro 6 van (Image: UGC)

His company initially had two vans that were not compliant with the new CAZ regulations.

Mr Aftab began his application process on March 3 of this year and came across a number of hurdles along the way.

Mr Aftab said: "You have to show evidence to get the grant. If you don't then you won't get it."

But unfortunately for Mr Aftab his application was unsuccessful.

"In June this year they denied me the grant," which he said they did because he did not have the required documentation.

"They turned it down, so I immediately appealed and within an hour they overturned it."

So he completed more documentation, borrowed £15,000 and bought a Euro 6 compliant van in August.

But then last week he was again told his grant application was unsuccessful due to errors in the documentation.

"When they rejected this grant, I was absolutely gobsmacked. I was very furious.

"It had gone on for months and after all that, they rejected me. I had invested a lot of time and money."

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "The Clean Air Zone is a Government directive and as such we have to distribute the grants in line with the rules set out by Government.

"If the council were to vary the process for distribution of the grants then the Government would be within their rights to claw back grant funding which had been incorrectly distributed.

“Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, we would like to stress that the terms and conditions for grant eligibility include the warning 'Grant funding cannot be applied retrospectively.'

"Therefore, if you intend to apply for a grant or exemption please wait to hear the outcome before making any purchasing decisions.

"We encourage everyone to read the grant conditions before making a decision. If you are in any doubt please call Clean Air Zone team on 01274 435533 which is open Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 5pm and Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm.”

Mr Aftab said: "I've accepted I'm not going to get any money over this, but if I don't clear this debt, I'll have to decide what to do. This could shut my business down.

"In a climate like this, it'd be easier to get a mortgage than a CAZ grant."