The number of penalty fines issued to drivers in London hit a record of almost 7.6 million in the past year, figures revealed on Thursday.
This included more than three million £130 tickets issued to drivers who were caught on CCTV failing to obey road signs — such as driving through low traffic neighbourhoods or school streets.
Data published by London Councils revealed that 7,599,875 penalty charge notices were issued in 2022-23 — up 1.7 per cent on the previous 12 months. This was due to a 5.7 per cent increase in parking fines, which increased to 4,100,177 tickets.
The total income received by Transport for London and the 33 London councils was not revealed but is likely to be in excess of £400million.
TfL issued most parking tickets (440,227) — to motorists who parked on red routes — followed by Westminster (359,865), Camden (191,161), Kensington and Chelsea (188,741) and Haringey (182,444). Fines range from £60 to £160, depending on the location of the offence. A 50 per cent discount is available on tickets paid within 14 days.
Last month the Standard revealed that boroughs were considering bringing their top fines in line with TfL’s £160 penalty — or potentially increasing them to £180, to keep pace with inflation and tackle soaring illegal parking. All surplus income from PCNs is reinvested by TfL and the councils in transport schemes, such as the concessionary Freedom Pass for older and disabled Londoners.
There were 3,192,003 “moving traffic offences” in 2022-23, when drivers ignore road signs and make a banned turn or enter a LTN or school street when restrictions apply. This was down two per cent on the previous year, suggesting drivers may have become slightly more accustomed to LTN restrictions.
Boroughs issuing most tickets for moving traffic offences included Islington (212,961), with seven LTNs, and Hammersmith and Fulham (202,969), where a clean air neighbourhood zone in south Fulham is thought to have penalised many non-local drivers.
There was a seven per cent reduction in the number of penalty tickets issued for driving in bus lanes, to 313,351.
London Councils, which represents the boroughs, said drivers who receive a PCN can appeal, first to the council and then the parking adjudicator. The
number of motorists who took their case on to the adjudicator fell by four per cent to 43,196 and 14,329 cases were successful, up slightly on the previous year.
There was a 15 per cent drop in appeals on “moving traffic” offences, thought to be due to better signage and publicity relating to LTNs and school streets.
Chief adjudicator Anthony Chan said motorists “must remain alert to signs and lines.”
