LAST weekend, we went on a weekend jaunt to enjoy a sell-out Chinese show at Bristol’s Hippodrome, followed by a tour of swanky (and sodden) Bath.

Halfway up the M5, the Other Half (OH) asked me from the driver’s seat whether our new car met the city’s clean air regulations. If it didn’t, we needed to pay a charge in advance, or risk being fined.

I did a quick check online, filled in my details and parted with £15 of my hard-earned cash at the push of a button. Then the small print caught my eye; the website I was using was ‘not affiliated” with any government or council schemes.

Then the email invoices arrived from a company with a dubious name, bearing numerous spelling errors just to rub my wordsmith nose in it.

I had fallen prey to a third-party website that had relieved me of my money while providing precisely nothing in return. One of those sites that pays to be at the top of the page, in the knowledge it will make every penny back, tenfold.

A further, more diligent web search confirmed there was no fee to pay for our car, which although large is not very old, has a tiny engine and is petrol rather than diesel. The scheme is designed to penalise older, more polluting wagons.

“You’re probably not the first today, and you definitely won’t be the last,” said OH in a tone that was sanguine and definitely not “I told you so”.

I’ve lost count how many times I have told Daughter to look after her money, offering adult wisdom along the lines of keeping it in a purse, not stuffed in a pocket or loose in a bag, where notes can be pulled out unnoticed along with everything else. She once lost a fiver that way, and remarked plaintively: “I’m never going to see that again, am I?” Exactly that.

These words echoed in my ears immediately after my impulsive transaction. As it was pending, there was no way of cancelling it other than by appealing to the company itself; sadly, its contact email bounced back with the speed of a power ball.

They are probably banking on victims, like me, thinking it’s not worth the time or the emotional hassle to pursue it, and that there was probably something in the always ticked, never read T&C that will preclude a refund.

I felt duped, and not at all grown-up or clever. I reassured myself that it was £15, which isn’t that much in the grand 2025 scheme of things – hell, our Costa bill at Exeter services was £31, much to my mother-in-law's vocal disgust.

But it was nevertheless infuriating that there are people out there earning money in this parasitic manner. Someone has spotted an opportunity to make a quick buck off the back of someone else’s business by doing absolutely naff all.

Trading Standards calls them “copycat websites”; expensive but pointless passport checks are another popular ruse, as are driving test bookers. They charge you for something you could do for free, or will have to pay to do again.

A friend in Trading Standards confirms that while these sites are misleading, they are not necessarily illegal due to the small print. She wonders why the likes of Google are not doing more to stop them from crowding the top of internet searches, pulling in clueless visitors who are checking on their phone in the back of the car at the last minute in a blind panic.

Indeed, in Newcastle, which runs a similar clean air initiative, the city council warned people to beware after countless drivers coughed up unnecessarily or were fined because the fee thought they had paid never reached the correct authorities.

My friend’s advice: “Take a minute to breathe and make a calm decision. These schemes are usually run by local authorities who give you a few days to pay, and at least the time to reach your destination and check on a larger screen with a clearer head. Oh – and scroll down past all the paid advertising.”

I have no issue with clean air zones. When so many vehicles are using a built-up space, the air will be unbreathable unless a concerted effort is made to bring emissions down.

But I do object very strongly to unknown, unseen villains sitting feet up while my money drops into their account, paying for their speedboat when it should be paying my bills.

Take a squizz at www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones to check whether your vehicle is chargeable in several clean air zones.

And at least I’ve got a column out of it. Eight hundred words at £15 - that works out at just shy of tuppence per word. I think that’s pretty good value, don’t you? You’re very welcome.