Kingston Council raked in a quarter of a million pounds in box junction fines in just two months from drivers breaking the rules.

Enforcement at two boxes netted the council a total of £254,037.50 in October and November.

It only took on enforcing box junctions in September.

Drivers were caught 1,101 times in October at the junction of Wheatfield Way and Clarence Street – by the iconic red phone boxes – handing over £62,851 to the council, and another £37,352 last month.

But the real cash cow was the junction of Ewell Road and Elgar Avenue in Tolworth, where motorists paid £153,835, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

Law teacher David Mark, of Berrylands, was handed a fine on October 16.

He said: “It is very disturbing and I think it shows the council is not being proportionate.

“The word that I would use is ‘predatory’. I do really feel the council is just seeing drivers as targets.”

In September, the council took over responsibility for enforcing moving traffic violations, like cars using a bus lane, or driving the wrong way down a one-way street, from the police.

A Kingston Council spokesman said: “We always take any mitigation submitted into account when reviewing a case.”

Surbiton neighbourhood committee chairman Councillor Malcolm Self said: “I’m surprised that it’s as much as that.

“The idea is to get the roads moving. In my opinion it isn’t to raise revenue.

“The dodgy lights phasing [in Ewell Road, fixed last month] meant the traffic was tailing back. But that is not a reason why people should enter the box junction when the exit isn’t clear.”

By law, money from fines must be put back into road maintenance or public transport, after being used to pay for the cost of enforcement. The council admits the list of moving traffic enforcement locations on its website is not “exhaustive”.

 

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