Council pays back 11,000 fines after traffic blunder… at a cost of £1 million

A London borough has agreed to pay back 11,000 wrongly issued motoring fines potentially costing it more than £1 million.

Islington issued the penalty charge notices over a four-month period for violations at a “pinch point” to slow down traffic on a notorious rat run for lorries. Drivers were fined using CCTV evidence for entering a restricted lane on Drayton Park, opposite Arsenal’s Emirates stadium.

But after one driver appealed, the council was forced to admit that they did not have the proper consent for the changes they made last November. The restrictions have been suspended while the council seeks planning permission.

Islington has agreed to pay back the 11,000 fines worth between £700,000 to £1.4 million if motorists send in their penalty charge notices.

The mistake came to light following the appeal by Jeanette Michaels, 59, who was helped by campaigner Albert Herbert. Islington’s Parking and Traffic Appeals Service ruled that her ticket was invalid because the traffic management order was not amended in line with the new road signs.

Ms Michaels’s railway worker son Barry Salter, who was with his mother when the fine was issued, added: “If I had to use one word to summarise Islington council’s performance, it would be ‘incompetence’.”

Highbury Liberal Democrat councillor Julie Horten said: “Islington’s incompetence has cost up to £1 million and drivers should now be refunded automatically. Why should they have to appeal when it has now been proven that this width restriction has been a disaster from day one?”

The council said that it could not make automatic refunds as it does not hold the information of those fined. A spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the confusion. If drivers believe they have been issued with an incorrect penalty charge notice they should get in touch with us and we will refund any incorrect tickets.” The council said the lorry ban width restriction in Drayton Park was put in at residents’ requests and has led to a fall in HGVs using the road from 2,000 per week to 100.

Islington made the ninth largest surplus of the 33 boroughs on parking with a 2011 profit of £5.6 million, according to RAC figures.

Sam Costello, 41, bailiff: “Everyone around here agrees the road pinches are dangerous and they are just the council trying to make money. They should cough up and pay everyone back. I have seen so many accidents because of them, one car the other week ended up on its roof because of them.”

Tallulah Bayley, 47, teaching assistant: “I go through them twice a day to go shopping or drop my children at school. They’re a pain and confusing, just a cash cow for the council. There are other measures, like speed bumps, that wouldn’t cause so much aggravation.”

Frank Lazarus, 73, actor and writer: “It is dreadful. The council spent so much installing the pinches and now they’ll have to spend even more money paying people back. Who’s coming up with all these ‘bright ideas’? Who thought, ‘Lets fine people for being confused’?”