Sadiq Khan's conviction for failing to tax a Nissan Micra registered in his name has been formally withdrawn after the DVLA accepted he had been the victim of a scam involving false vehicle registrations. The case was reopened and dropped at a brief hearing at Hereford Magistrates' Court on Thursday, following a request from the DVLA, after it emerged the car did not belong to either the mayor or Transport for London. City Hall said this was not the first time fraudsters had falsely registered a vehicle in Khan's name, calling it a criminal act of which the DVLA was aware.

Khan had been convicted in his absence last month under the single justice procedure and ordered to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs and a £35.84 unpaid tax bill on the 24-year-old car, first registered in 2002 and untaxed since September. Court documents showed DVLA correspondence about the car had been sent to Gordon Ramsay's east London restaurant rather than nearby TfL offices, and the agency has not explained how the prosecution proceeded. The episode followed a campaign by motorists opposed to ULEZ expansion, some of whom pledged to register vehicles in Khan's name to divert charges to him, and has renewed criticism of the SJP system as "conveyor belt justice".