The middle-class volunteers thwarting council attempts to make thousands of pounds in LTN fines
Every rush hour, a very middle-class army of volunteers don their hi-vis jackets and take up their positions along the streets of a London borough. Their goal is simple: stop the Labour-run Lambeth council making hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines from unsuspecting motorists.
Leaflets and posters are handed out warning of £130 fines for those drivers who enter newly closed roads introduced as part of a controversial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN).
“We are educating motorists about road signs which most people do not realise mean no entry for motor vehicles,” Jim Bennett, 71, said.
“The council tries to brand LTNs as a way of making streets safer. But, really they are about making money for the council. And, that’s where we come in.”
The campaigners, many of whom are part of Lambeth LTN Watch which claims closed roads force traffic and pollution onto boundary roads, police three bus filters monitored by CCTV cameras within the Streatham Wells LTN trial, introduced in October last year.
“One Saturday I stopped 150 vehicles saving motorists tens of thousands of pounds in one single day,” Mr Bennett, a retired accountant who lives within the new LTN, said. If those 150 motorists had been issued fines which were then paid in full the council would have made £19,500.
However, Mr Bennett claims nine out of ten motorists do not realise the signs showing a motorcycle and car in a red circle mean all motor vehicles – except buses and some taxis – are banned. A recent survey by #BikeisBest, a cycling campaign group, found a third of drivers wrongly believing the sign actually means only cars and motorcycles are allowed to enter.
“They are confusing,” Mr Bennett added. “The council won’t use a ‘no entry’ sign. So, our aim is to educate motorists and prevent Lambeth making millions out of these LTNs.”
So, the volunteers, who include a few retired residents, housewives and professionals who give up their days off, have become unlikely heroes in this South London borough.
Mr Bennett insists they are not vigilantes. “We are not using angle grinders to cut down the council’s CCTV cameras. Nor are we removing planters. Instead we are public spirited volunteers who are helping motorists be better informed so the council cannot exploit them.”
June Lord, a local resident and volunteer whose mobility is impaired by a connective tissue disorder, said: “The council is ignoring the needs of disabled people. I can’t cycle or walk with ease. But, bus journey times have increased since the LTNs began being introduced.”
These volunteers are the latest attempt to halt the so-called “war on motorists”. It comes after statistics revealed how more than seven million penalty charge notices were issued by Transport for London and the capital’s 32 councils in 2022/23. Of those, three million were given to drivers caught on CCTV cameras disobeying road signs, like driving through LTNs.
Lambeth was one of the top five London authorities after issuing 354,832 fines.
CCTV cameras record the registration plates of vehicles entering the bus filters and any vehicles not allowed in are sent a fine, which is typically £130, although this is reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days.
Mr Bennett added: “I have lived in Streatham Wells for 41 years. In recent years the increase in LTNs has led to a dramatic increase in congestion on the boundary roads at peak times. Motorists are being forced onto main roads bringing with them pollution and delays.”
He said he has calculated there are about 4,700 children in schools on or around the Streatham Wells LTN boundary roads raising the prospect they are seeing increased congestion and pollution as traffic is funnelled onto main roads.
A Lambeth Council spokesman said the Streatham Wells LTN trial was introduced to “make the area safer, more sustainable and give everyone in Lambeth more equal access to their local streets”.
He added he welcomed “local residents engaging with the trial LTN and helping ensure people do the right thing”, adding: “The reason we use signage rather than bollards is so emergency services and other exempted traffic have quick access to all streets.”
He said a new LTN can lead to “potential disruption” but journey times improve as “the measures bed in”.
