Motorists who were unlawfully fined £160 for driving in low traffic neighbourhoods in south London are being encouraged to apply for refunds.
It comes after the High Court ruled that the six LTNs in Croydon should be quashed as they were established for the primary purpose of generating cash for the financially-stricken council.
Tory borough mayor Jason Perry, who made the LTNs permanent in March 2024 despite a pre-election pledge to scrap the zones, said he would not appeal against the court judgement.
In a message posted on social media, Mr Perry, who is seeking re-election in the May local elections, said he would “make it as easy as possible for residents to get their money back”.
Mr Perry said: “After considering the court’s decision, I have decided the council will not appeal, which would have delayed their removal by many months.
“I can confirm that residents who received a penalty notice whilst the schemes were in operation will be able to claim refunds.”
Drivers can request a refund for fines issued over the two-year period, from March 30, 2024, and March 4, 2026.
Mr Perry did not explain how he planned to plug the gap in the council’s finances that will be caused by the loss of income that would have been generated by the LTNs.
According to the High Court judgement, which was issued earlier this month, Croydon council expected to make a surplus of £10.7m from the LTNs between 2023 and 2027.
The six LTNs were in Albert Road and Elmers Road in South Norwood, Dalmally Road in Addiscombe, Holmesdale Road in Selhurst, Parsons Mead in West Croydon and Sutherland Road, Broad Green.
🚗 LTN Refunds for Residents
— Jason Perry - Mayor of Croydon (@JasonForCroydon) March 16, 2026
Following the recent court judgment on the LTNs, I have ended those schemes and we will not be appealing. The priority now is making sure residents can easily claim back any fines they paid.
We will be contacting people where we hold email… pic.twitter.com/J0V843j964
In a post on X, Mr Perry said: “The important thing now is: how do resident get their money back?
“We will ensure that residents have an easy process to claim back any fines that they have paid.
“We will be writing to anyone where we have an email address, proactively letting them know about the new system.
“Secondly, we are going to create an easy to fill-in online form that you can fill in for any claims.
“Thirdly, we are going to provide a checker, where you can check if you are in the system for these claims.
“We are going to try to make this as easy as possible for residents to get their money back.”
Croydon, which has effectively declared bankruptcy three times since 2020, will need another £119m of extra support this year after receiving £110.3m last year.
The High Court judgement said the LTNs were unlawful because their “dominant purpose” was to generate income.
Mr Perry became Croydon’s executive mayor in 2022. He made the LTNs, first introduced under Labour in 2020, permanent in March 2024.
The judgement said: “In opposition, Conservative Councillor Jason Perry criticised the then Labour administration for the introduction of the schemes.
“He then said that he would like to remove all Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes on the first day that he became mayor and only reintroduce any scheme that had local backing and would achieve its stated purposes.
“While that was his wish, he cautioned: ‘However, owing to how Labour has constructed their budget this is simply not possible. There is well over £20m of future income within the budget which would have to be replaced if this happened.’”
The judge added in relation to Mr Perry: “In both opposition and office, he argued that he could not simply close the schemes because of the hole that would be left in the budget rather than arguing the positive road safety or health case for the schemes.”
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