A vicar has warned the expansion of London's ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) to the border with Kent could see the bereaved barred from attending funerals.

Mourners driving from Dartford to attend services at Eltham Cemetery in southeast London may have to fork out £12.50 if their vehicles are non-compliant.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan insists the scheme is necessary to tackle the capital's dirty air and curb premature deaths.

But it faces growing opposition amid the cost-of-living crisis and the anticipated impact on low-income households, disabled people and small businesses.

And now a member of the clergy has come out in opposition to the planned roll-out.

Reverend Carl Chambers, the vicar of St Michael and All Angels Church in Wilmington, says the charge is a "punch in the nose" and will affect those travelling across the London/Kent border to pay respect to loved ones.

Dartford has no crematorium but the council has links with Eltham Cemetery and Crematorium in Crown Woods Way – on the other side of the ULEZ expansion.

The scheme is due to be extended to cover the whole of the capital – including the boroughs of Bexley and Bromley – from August 29.

Rev Chambers said: "The ULEZ extension will have a huge effect far beyond Bexley.

"So many in Dartford pop over the 'border' frequently, and as a vicar, I'll be faced with £12.50 for a visit to the crematorium and a number of my parishioners."

The father-of-three described the £12.50 charge as "a punch in the nose every time you cross the border".

He said he goes to the crematorium at least once a month and regularly visits his parishioners who live in Bexley.

Between visits to his parishioners, and taking his children to visit friends or clubs in Bexley, he said it will cost at least £25 a week, and some weeks as much as £50.

His family car is a Mitsubishi diesel, which they bought because it was fuel efficient with good miles. However, it is not ULEZ compliant.

The vicar also raised concerns that the charge could discourage or prevent Kent residents from attending funeral services at the crematorium.

He said: "At a funeral you want friends to come and support you, and if £12.50 becomes a fine or penalty it could prevent people being a support to their friends who lost loved ones.

"During Covid, we were kept apart and it was hard, but this will keep people apart too.

"It's like a charge on being a friend. It's yet another barrier to human kindness."

The vicar said he understood why emissions charges have been brought in within Central London, but "it's a bit extreme to take it out this far".

"It's like a charge on being a friend. It's yet another barrier to human kindness."

He added: "With Wilmington being on the border, people from our church live in Bexley, and I would have to pay the charge to go and visit them.

"Around here, people move around a lot – you go to Crayford, Swanley, Bexley, it's just the way you live here."

Rev Chambers' son works at a tennis club in Bexley, so driving him to work is another regular charge he would face.

He said: "You can move house more easily than leaving a church or club, because these are relationships you have over years. There's lots of movement between communities around here.

"Communities are based on things like church and clubs instead of schooling because the children go to schools all over in Bexley, Dartford, and further out."

The clergyman explained that one of the biggest needs in Wilmington, which is in Dartford but sits near the Bexley border, is public transport.

He added: "People need to get to doctors, chemists, dentists, shopping, and they often need to travel out into Bexley for that.

"It's easier to go to Bexley than Dartford for these things, too. Dartford is often full of traffic, so to keep traffic moving you go to Crayford instead of into Dartford town centre.

"The public transport likely won't be improved to balance this out. We'd clog up extra traffic in Dartford.

"Further in, they might have one car per household rather than two as they have more public transport, but this far out of London it will affect us so much more.

"The cost is greater than the benefits. I definitely see the benefits of it but the wider and wider out you go, the more harmful it will be.

"I know they have to draw the line somewhere but it seems pretty blunt to draw it right here."

A petition in opposition to the expansion, set up by Dartford Conservatives and supported by the town's MP Gareth Johnson, has reached 30,000 signatures.

The Tory MP said: “The ULEZ expansion will be a disaster for working people. Dartfordians will be penalised for simply travelling to work or just going about our daily lives.

"The response to the petition here in Dartford and the level of opposition in the Mayor’s own consultation shows that people are against ULEZ.

"However, despite the level of opposition, Sadiq Khan and Labour Leader Keir Starmer are determined to carry on. It is clear they are not listening to the growing opposition here in Dartford.

"Myself and my Dartford Conservative colleagues will continue to oppose ULEZ."

Five Tory-led councils said they have started a legal challenge over Mr Khan’s decision to expand ULEZ.

Outer London boroughs –including Bexley and Bromley – issued a joint statement announcing their intentions to fight the Labour mayor’s plan in the courts.

Surrounding councils such as Kent County Council has also refused to sign an agreement allowing Transfport for London to install street signs and cameras needed to enforce the scheme/

But despite growing opposition to the scheme, Mr Khan has vowed to press ahead.

This week the Mayor of London wrote to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking him to provide financial support for people in locations such as Kent who drive into the capital with the most polluting vehicles to scrap or retrofit them. The Mayor's own scheme does not include drivers outside the capital.

He also called on Mr Sunak to match the £110 million he has allocated for London’s scrappage scheme.

In a letter, Mr Khan urged the Prime Minister to “become a doer, rather than a delayer, when it comes to climate action”.

He claimed the capital was “in the grip of a deadly public health crisis”, with toxic air “causing the premature deaths of an estimated 4,000 Londoners every year”.

Mr Khan, who will stand for a third-term as London Mayor in 2024, added: “It is abundantly clear then that the cost of inaction is far too high and that further action is needed to safeguard public health and spare people unnecessary suffering.

“I’m simply not prepared to stand idly by while toxic fumes from highly polluting vehicles choke our communities and leave our children reaching for inhalers and gasping for air."

For diesel cars and vans to avoid the Ulez charge they must generally have been registered from September 2015, while most petrol models registered after 2005 are exempt.

A Government spokesman said the mayor must “justify his decision” to extend the ULEZ.