Money-spinner: a single council CCTV camera has generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines on drivers using the Wellesley Road bus lane. But recently, there’s been more problems with the council’s admin of FPNs
Penalty fines amounting to thousands of pounds have been dismissed after Croydon Council failed to provide the required paperwork for tribunal appeals brought by drivers against alleged driving offences in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
That’s according to a report today from motoring organisation the AA, which says that thousands of London drivers are paying traffic fines which should never have been issued.
Croydon was among six London boroughs who had £130-a-time Fixed Penalty Notices issued in December ruled invalid because their enforcement and restriction cameras lacked proper certification.
It is the second time in just 12 months that Croydon Council’s management of fines for drivers has been shown to be flawed to the point of incompetence.
The AA has also questioned why drivers are being forced to spend time and money going through the appeals process when the fines could have been cancelled after they first contacted councils to complain.
Sting: this is the second time in 12 months that Croydon Council’s admin of driving fines has been flawed
For each successful appeal, “perhaps hundreds more” drivers who receive invalid fines pay up within 14 days to secure the 50% discount for early payment, the AA said.
Other boroughs to have their penalties cancelled included Lambeth, Harrow, Redbridge, Greenwich and the City of London when, like Croydon, they failed to provide paperwork to validate the Fixed Penalty Notices they issued in the three weeks to January 4.
For cash-strapped councils such as Croydon, income generated by traffic-monitoring CCTV cameras is increasingly important. Just a single CCTV camera on Wellesley Road in Croydon town centre, monitoring drivers using the bus lane on the six-lane urban motorway, is reckoned to have been behind the issue of 7,500 fines from motorists in five years – generating almost £500,000 in fines revenue even if every driver paid promptly at the £65 discounted fine rate.
The issue with invalid penalties goes deeper, and extends to much of last year, the AA’s research indicates.
Analysis based on statistics provided by the pan-capital London Councils organisation showed 56% of appeals made against bus lane penalties in 2024 were upheld or not contested by councils.
For moving traffic offences, such as stopping in a yellow box when not allowed, the figure was 35%. Altogether, nearly 7,300 appeals – representing almost £1million-worth of fines – were successful in 2024.
Luke Bosdet, from the AA’s motoring policy unit, said: “Dishing out fines for any restriction that has expired is outrageous. While a handful of drivers have fought back against fines that shouldn’t have been issued, thousands of drivers each year will have paid the half-rate within 14 days.
“How can it ever be acceptable that a council fines a motorist for an offence without legal basis and just has to cancel the demand for money?
“The lack of accountability for councils’ road traffic enforcement needs to be reviewed by the Department for Transport. All TMOs should be held on a central database with alerts to warn when one is going to expire or has already done so.”
A DfT spokesman said: “Local authorities are responsible for local traffic measures and they should make sure penalties for the use of bus lanes are fair and proportionate.
“They must ensure their Traffic Management Orders are up to date, and we will be sharing proposals to modernise this process, making it more efficient for local authorities.”
Piss-poor: who will Mayor Jason Perry blame for this latest cock-up at the council?
London Councils said it encourages those issued with invalid FPNs to report the matter to their local authority and to appeal against any rejections with London Tribunals.
This latest administrative balls-up by Croydon over driving fines comes just 12 months since Mayor Jason Perry and CEO Katherine Kerswell’s council was accused of “corruption”, as hundreds of residents were issued with demands for £190 for driving offences when they were never sent the original, and legally required, Penalty Charge Notice.
The council explanation last year was that the failure to issue initial PCNs for parking offences was all due to a “technical glitch”.
Mayor Perry was later forced to issue a public apology for the latest council fiasco, saying that it was all due to a “software error”.
Who is piss-poor Perry going to blame this time?
Read more: Kerrr-ching! Unsuspecting drivers hit with no-notice £190 fines
Read more: 92% of readers disagree with Kerswell’s Peer Review findings
Read more: IT’S OFFICIAL: Croydon still among country’s worst councils
Read more: Croydon’s PCN fiasco: Perry’s council is in another fines mess
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