... and councils rake in £200,000 an hour in fines

DRIVERS were hit with £1.6 billion in council fines last year, to the fury of campaigners who called the penalties ‘grossly unjust’.

Councils handed out nearly £200,000 an hour in fines, with the worst junction, in London, generating almost £11 million.

Parking fines accounted for about £376 million of the national total, with driving in bus lanes, stopping in box junctions and other traffic violations making up the rest.

Bank junction in the City of London levied £11 million in fines – more than £200,000 a week – after doling out 175,660 penalty notices, according to Freedom of Information figures. The junction was closed to day traffic except buses and bicycles in 2017 after a series of collisions. Daytime car drivers caught on CCTV face a £130 fine.

Outside London, the highest number of fines issued for a single road was 7,628 on Western Road in Brighton. Slough High Street was the next highest, with 5,400 tickets. Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘It is grossly unjust that in the majority of cases people are being fined for what is a simple mistake.’

A City of London Corporation spokesman told the Sunday Express: ‘Our number one priority at Bank is to improve safety.’