Drivers have now paid Kingston Council more than £800,000 in fines for stopping in yellow box junctions, making banned turns and more, since it took over enforcement last September.

Income in the first two months of this year from enforcing moving traffic violations was more than £300,000, with box junctions in Wheatfield Way and Ewell Road contributing about £180,000, it was revealed this week.

By law, profit from the fines must go to fund off-street parking, road maintenance, public transport, or projects approved by the Mayor of London.

Boris Johnson told the Comet on Wednesday that in light of the figures, a Kingston Conservative election call to invest £1m from that pot into roads appeared a “particularly adroit piece of Conservative financial planning.”

Council leader Liz Green said of the Tory promise: “I think it’s a gimmick. There’s no detail behind it.

“I don’t know at the moment what is the best use of that fund.”

Extra pothole gangs have been employed to repair winter damage around the borough, she added.

The council’s bus lane enforcement account will carry a surplus of more than £2.7m into the next financial year, according to budget papers.