Barely a week after Madrid’s rightwing council began rolling back the city’s low emissions zone, a judge has ruled that the traffic restrictions must be maintained.

As of Monday, drivers of non-exempt vehicles will once again be fined €90 if they enter the 1.8 sq mile zone in the centre of the Spanish capital.

The zone, known as Madrid Central, was introduced in November by the city’s then mayor, Manuela Carmena, a leftist. In April nitrogen dioxide levels in the city centre were down by 48% year on year, according to the environmental group Ecologists in Action.

Former mayor Manuela Carmena introduced the Madrid Central low emissions zone in November 2018. Photograph: Andrea Comas/Reuters

Madrid’s new city council, which is led by the conservative People’s party (PP) and the centre-right Citizens party and backed by the far-right Vox, announced moves to begin rolling back the Madrid Central zone days after taking office in June.

Greenpeace, Ecologists in Action and other environmental groups appealed against the decision to abandon the scheme, and a judge in an administrative court ruled in their favour on Monday, saying pollution in Madrid could not be allowed to rise uncontrollably.

“The judge’s ruling not only accepts our plea but also suspends the agreement the council reached on June 27 to abandon the scheme,” said Paco Segura, a coordinator of Ecologists in Action. “Madrid Central is now operating just as it was before.”

The city council tweeted: “The moratorium on sanctions in Madrid Central decreed by the city council has been temporarily suspended on the order of the court of administration.”

The council, led by José Luis Martínez-Almeida, said it would appeal against the decision, claiming the moratorium was perfectly legal. The council has three days in which to present its case.

The perimeter of Madrid Central is monitored by 115 cameras. The cameras read the licence plate numbers of cars entering and leaving the zone, as well as those that park in the area. This data is then cross-referenced with data on who is a resident and who has or hasn’t got permission to enter the restricted zone.