Nick wrote:

In principle I've been agreeing with the congestion charge, but that
was until I was caught in this trap. On an evening and outside zone
hours I would like to drive to my g/f's flat that's inside the zone by
about 100 yards drive. In the morning I would leave the private car
park, enter the zone to drive 30 seconds or even less on a deserted
side street to reach the zone exit and enter a dual lane main road
with no problems and not affecting the almost non-flow of traffic on
that particular road.

At what point, when it isn't deserted and you join a queue (thereby
contributing to that queue and hence the reason for the charge), should
you start paying?

At what distance should your current 100 yards become untenable as an
excuse? 200 yards? 400 yards? A mile? A free journey directly out from
any point in the zone if you start there when the charge kicks in?

Easiest answer: park your car outside of the zone overnight or, and this
is the nub, don't drive. It's the large numbers of cars on the roads
both within and without the zone that caused the charge in the first
place, just because you're skirting the edges doesn't mean you are not
part of the problem.

Sounds like a whinge if you ask me. Suck it up and pay.