Drivers forced to fork out £1million a MONTH in fines to just one council thanks to hated traffic rules
DRIVERS have been forced to fork out £1million a MONTH in fines because of a hate traffic rule.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council have raked in the whopping sum by issuing more than 341,000 penalty charge notices in 11 months.
They banked nearly £8 million from 105,000 just from fines between February and December last year after the Low Traffic Neighbourhood was set up in 2022.
LTNs, which see large stretches of road (usually in residential areas) completely pedestrianised, are becoming more popular with local authorities despite objections from motorists.
The schemes are hailed for their environmental and traffic-calming benefits, but critics claim that they simply redirect jams to other areas.
But a whopping 197,200 fines were overturned over the 11 months – after thousands were wrongly fined.
Resident Caroline Shuffrey told The Telegraph: “Businesses in South Fulham are going to the wall so that the council can profit from camera offences. It is blindingly obvious that the infrastructure supporting this naked money-making scheme is not fit for purpose.
“More than two-thirds of the fines have had to be cancelled, meaning hundreds of thousands of non-residents have had to suffer stress and form-filling to get their fines rescinded.
“This is a cynical greenwashing scheme which diverts traffic elsewhere, does nothing to save the planet and benefits the richer residents of South Fulham living inside the leafy green streets, at the expense of those residents living along the main roads.”
The LTNs have been brought in by local councils in a bid to make some areas of the capital more pedestrian and cyclist friendly.
Some LTNs have seen roads blocked off with planters or bollards but in others the restrictions are policed by warning signs and a system of CCTV cameras.
The cameras record the registration plates of vehicles entering the zones and any vehicles not allowed in are sent a fine, which is typically £130, although this is reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days.
Low-traffic neighbourhoods
Low-traffic neighbourhoods are redesigned roads to make them easier for walkers and cyclists.
They minimise traffic from vehicles using the streets as a cut-through to get somewhere else.
They can include bollards to stop motor access altogether, one-way streets or filters just for buses and emergency services to travel through.
Diagonal filters to minimise the need for reversing or banned turns can feature too.
The first LTN appeared in the 1970s but they were turbocharged during Covid lockdowns.
A council spokesman said: “Since the trial began, fines have tumbled by almost 80 per cent, as predicted, while pollution from congestion has become a thing of the past in residential streets, which are now quieter, cleaner and safer.”
He added that no businesses had closed due to the LTN and told how footfall was up.
The council claims there has also been a “reduction of over 7,000 vehicles a day using side streets”.