Westminster Council’s CCTV cameras trap 1,400 drivers in Piccadilly yellow box junction

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Westminster Council’s CCTV cameras trap 1,400 drivers in Piccadilly yellow box junction

By Westminster Labour ⋅ November 14, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
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Council rakes in another £80,000 in parking fines.

Over 1,400 drivers received parking tickets in May, June and July this year for entering a yellow box at the Piccadilly/Lower Berkeley Street junction as a result of the £14 million Piccadilly road works, raising over £80,000 for Westminster Council in parking fines. Even though the Piccadilly road works left drivers unsighted so that they were unable to see if they could exit the yellow box, Westminster Council has refused parking appeals from aggrieved drivers.

The number of parking tickets issued by the CCTV camera increased from just 20 in January and 20 in April 2011, before the road works started, to 364 in May, 462 in June and 595 in July. In August 2011, when the road works were over, the second lane re-opened and the sight line restored, the figure dropped to just 6 parking tickets.

The Council’s £14 million Piccadilly two-way road works altered the road configuration by closing one of the carriageways and the sight line was effectively obliterated. Drivers had no way of making any reasoned judgement as to whether or not they were going to be able to clear the yellow box.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “Over 1,400 drivers have been caught in a trap set by Westminster Council. The Council treats drivers as its own personal cash point. To continue to run the CCTV camera while the Piccadilly road works were in operation and the sight lines were obliterated was nothing short of entrapment and totally unreasonable. The Council has raked in over £80,000 in parking fines as a result of this and there can be no moral or any other justification for taking money from people in these circumstances. The Council should pay back the money.”

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