576 fined for stopping on city’s first ‘red route’

LINES TO PREVENT PROBLEM PARKING

AN experimental “red route” to tackle problem parking and traffic congestion in Leicester has been hailed a success after new figures revealed more than 500 fines have been handed out to drivers.

The route, which is marked by red lines on the side of the A6 London Road between the railway station and Waterloo Way, was introduced to prevent drivers from parking up or stopping.

It has now emerged that 576 drivers have been slapped with fines since the new system was put in place in September, with a further 81 hit with a £70 penalty after they were caught on CCTV stopping in the bus-only zone outside the railway station.

Deputy city mayor Councillor Adam Clarke, who leads on transport matters for the council, said: “It’s the first red route in the city and it is designed to make one of the major routes into the city centre safer and to promote walking and cycling.

“It is demonstrating it is doing its job.

“There had been problems before with anti-social parking that could be a hazard to other road users.

“It was persistent but what we have done is found a way to have a further layer of safety.

“We are pleased with how it has gone and we would expect the figures to plateau off as people get used to the scheme and there has been a dip.

“We are not sure how much Covid has had an impact on it but it has so far done what we wanted it to do and what we expected it to do.”

A dozen fines have been cancelled on appeal due to people’s individual circumstances and Coun Clarke said he had not been inundated with complaints from businesses whose customers could no longer stop near to shops and takeaways.

He said: “That was one of the concerns before we brought the red route in but it hasn’t happened.

“I think the businesses realise that we have been pragmatic about this.”

Under the new restrictions, drivers are banned from stopping at any point along the red route. Double red lines will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Single red lines will prevent vehicles stopping at any time between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday.

The experimental order will run for 18 months before the council makes a decision on whether it should become permanent or not.

There had been problems with parking that could be a hazard to other road users Coun Clarke, right