Councillors have agreed to take on more powers to crackdown on bad driving in Greenwich, five years after plans were first mooted.

The council is hoping to use CCTV to combat dangerous driving as it signs off on adopting more powers currently only given to police.

Drivers ignoring the rules of the roads, such as flouting box junctions or parking at marked areas near schools, now face a greater risk of being slapped with a fine.

Officers said: “The enforcement of these restrictions by CCTV will reduce instances of contraventions leading to better compliance and reducing the likelihood of road traffic collisions, reducing congestion and smoothing traffic flows and improving air quality.”

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Many London boroughs already use CCTV as a tool to stamp out bad driving, and Greenwich councillors finally signed off on a scheme last week.

Greenwich Council will spend about half a million pounds setting up 20 cameras across the borough, and employ full time staff to monitor them.

Opposition councillor Matt Clare pointed out that the decision has been a long time in the making.

He said: “We in the opposition welcome this item, although it’s unfortunate that it has taken so long. I remember discussing this in October 2014.

“This is an excellent opportunity to improve road safety and deal with the selfish behaviour of a minority of motorists. I just hope the council will take full advantage of it. Safety is priority but there is also a revenue objective that can be met.”

An extra £250k will be spent on CCTV staff to monitor the Royal Borough’s roads for dodgy driving.

Police currently have similar powers but enforcement is “infrequent” and, given the pressure London’s cops are under, motorists are not always prioritised.

Councillor Jackie Smith, cabinet member for enforcement, said at a meeting on July 17: “Yes, it has been a long time coming, but it is a rather complex process that has to go through London Councils first. There’s an awful amount of work that has gone in to get to this point.

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“We are hoping to get it all in place by the end of this year. It will give us the ability to deal with things that are at the moment police powers.  They will delegate those to us – they are to deal with things that on a daily basis we all see happening and are annoyed with.

“Particularly those that put members of the public at risk, like when people go mad in box junctions. It is about trying to change behaviour and until that is changed there will be financial penalties and that will pay for the scheme.”