Demand grows for Southwark Council to refund millions in motor fines

• Southwark council raised more than £2.6 million in five years by issuing PCNs
• However a mistake in the wording means that all the tickets are 'legally void'

Demand is growing for a Labour Council to refund millions of pounds to motorists after 'incompetent staff' leave error on 'unfair' fines.

Southwark council raised more than £2.6 million in five years by issuing 43,300 fines to motorists who had strayed into bus lanes in its borough.

However, it has now been reveled that a mistake in the wording on the penalty charge notices (PCNs) means that all the tickets issued are 'legally void'.

Phillip Morgan, who discovered the incorrect wording, said motorists were a 'soft target' for councils looking to raise money.

Demand is growing for a Labour Council to refund millions of pounds to motorists after 'incompetent staff' leave error on 'unfair' fines

Since then 85 out of 152 of England's highway authorities have been granted the ability to enforce fines of up to £70 for such violations. Stock image of car driving in a bus lane (stock)

He said: 'I am deeply concerned by the incompetence of staff employed by London council's parking departments.

'Their failings range from the inability to copy and paste mandatory information from the laws to the inability to fairly and correctly assess representations and appeals from motorists who, to me, are soft targets used to obtain revenue.'

The Act states that the 28-day time limit to challenge a PCN should start from 'the date of notice' about the fine.

However, the council wrongly put on its tickets that the month-long window for legal challenges started from 'the date the penalty charge notice was served'.

In one ruling to appeal a £130 fine, the judge said: 'The penalty charge notice does not comply with the statutory provisions. This amounts to a procedural impropriety and I therefore allow the appeal.'

Southwark council said: 'Southwark council issues penalty charge notices for motoring offences in the interests of public safety for all road users. They are issued within a legal and statutory framework, which includes the rights of appeal. Income received from penalty charge notice fines goes towards road upgrades and projects to help make streets safer and more accessible.

'In February 2024 we updated the wording of our PCNs to fully comply with the requirements of the London Local Authorities Act 1996, reducing the time drivers have to consider the notice or pay the fine. Our original wording stipulated drivers had from the time the notice was received, rather than when it was sent, allowing them more time in the process.'

In one ruling to appeal a £130 fine, the judge said: 'The penalty charge notice does not comply with the statutory provisions. This amounts to a procedural impropriety and I therefore allow the appeal' (file photo)

'We have no plans to cancel PCNs that haven't been successfully appealed within the statutory parking appeals process.'

Laws passed in May 2022 allowed local councils to apply for the special powers, previously only held by police, to fine drivers for 'moving traffic offences'.

Since then 85 out of 152 of England's highway authorities have been granted the ability to enforce fines of up to £70 for entering yellow boxes, making illegal U-turns or travelling in bus lanes.

The AA also suggested that 'cash-strapped councils' will use this as 'a new revenue stream'.

Jack Cousens, the head of roads policy at the AA, said: 'Allowing local authorities the power to fine drivers for yellow box junction infringements has undoubtedly opened up a new revenue stream for cash-strapped councils. Some drivers may feel this is yet another example of being used as a wallet on wheels.'

He added: 'The vast majority of drivers do not break the rules on purpose, which is why we have always argued that first time offenders should receive a warning letter, and that a 'fines threshold' should be set, so that councils have to investigate and improve schemes that are earning huge sums.'

In 2022, the MailOnline tracked down the worst bus lane in Britain- in Clapham Park Road, Lambeth south London- which made £2 million in just one year.

At one stage this averaged out at £5,300 a day owing to drivers mistakenly turning left into a bus lane near Clapham Common.

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