Council makes six-figure sum from targeting school runs

 A council may have collected up to £380,000 in motoring fines in just six months after targeting parents on the school run.

Croydon borough council closed off roads to drivers dropping children at three primary schools in what officials said was a measure to manage congestion. During the six-month pilot project up to £380,120 worth of fines were issued.

The scheme saw parents banned from driving through roads outside Heavers Farm primary school, St Chad’s and Woodcote primary.

Penalty notice charges – at £130 each – were handed to parents who breached the restrictions, with the chance to pay a lesser fine of £65 if they paid within 14 days. That means a minimum of £190,060 and a maximum of £380,120 for the total of 2,924 offences.

A borough spokesman stood by the project, saying: “The primaries involved have reported less congestion [and] a safer road for children to walk to school.”