10 more Crit’Air zones

The scheme is already in place in Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, Strasbourg, Lille, Annecy and Rennes.

It is to be extended to: Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Reims, Toulon, Rouen, Clermont-Ferrand, Fort-de-France, Montpellier and Nice.

Their mairies or prefectures will work out zones à circulation restreinte (ZCR – restricted traffic zones) where the measure will be enforced.

To drive in the zone, you need to display a sticker on the windscreen. Only cars rated below a certain pollution level will be allowed and it applies to all cars, including foreign-plated ones.

The stickers are in six colours and relate to age and emissions, from green/one (least-polluting) to grey/five. Cars first registered before 1997 cannot obtain one.It is up to the mairie to decide which categories of vehicle are permitted, and there are signs at the start of the zones.

In Paris it relates to the whole city intra muros and it is set to be extended to many of the surrounding “greater Paris” communes later this year.

You can order the stickers at this official site, for €3.11 plus postage at €3.62: certificat-air.gouv.fr/demande/cgu.

There are many third-party sites selling them – often for a considerable mark-up.