LTNs are £1.5m per month cash cow, figures reveal

A COUNCIL’S “secret” figures which show it is banking up to £1.5 million a month in fines from two low traffic neighbourhoods (LTN) also reveal five in six are overturned.

The Labour-run Hammersmith and Fulham council had to cancel 266,400 fines in 2023 despite only securing payment for 52,000 from its south Fulham LTN just east of Wandsworth Bridge Road on the Thames.

It means about five out of six penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued to motorists who were in fact permitted to enter a neighbourhood the council had closed to through traffic.

Last month, The Telegraph revealed how the London council had raked in £1 million a month for a single LTN to the west of south Fulham.

The latest batch of data the council eventually released this month shows the neighbouring eastern LTN made up to £500,000 a month in fines last year, banking £4 million. It means the number of fines and income from that LTN has remained largely the same as when it was introduced in the summer of 2020.

Campaigners say the data disproves the council’s repeated claim that motorists learn to avoid “rat runs”, meaning the numbers of fines and income falls.

The council had initially refused to publish the financial data for the eastern LTN after receiving a freedom of information request. But, after an appeal in which campaigners accused town hall bosses of being “secretive” the council apologised and released the fines statistics. In total, the council banked nearly £12 million from both LTNs in 2023. However, 75,000 PCNs are classified as “open” and could still generate more than £9million if paid at the full £130 fine rate.

A DfT spokesman said: “We want... any traffic schemes to have the consent of those they impact. We’re strengthening statutory guidance for councils setting out how they must gain buy-in from local[s] when implementing LTNs”