20,000 drivers fined £1.4m in single street in south London

Pedestrianised: Surrey Street in Croydon
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More than 20,000 fines were handed to drivers on one short pedestrianised street in south London last year.

Croydon council collected a total of £1.4 million from motorists who drove down Surrey Street — which was closed to traffic in 2017 — over the 12 months to March.

The 21,199 fines mean that a motorist was caught illegally driving in the 230-yard road on average every 24 minutes.

The £130 penalty is reduced to £65 if paid within two weeks.

Drivers say the fines are unfair as warning signs at either end of Surrey Street are hard to see.

Cars are able to access the road from both ends and are unimpeded by bollards because market traders with permits are allowed to drive in to set up stalls for a daily food market.

Motorist Deandra Smith, 32, said: “I just think it’s another money-grabbing scheme, especially when the signs aren’t clear. £1.4 million is an extortionate amount. They should make bigger signs and send out warning letters to people.”

Croydon Boxing Academy manager Kamilah Vidale-Ellis, 29, fell victim to the cameras in April.

She said: “I was resentful when I got a ticket, because I’m trying to make an honest living. I understand the reasons but no one’s trying to drive through here when there’s traders parked. Outside of those times you’d think it was okay to gain access to our building.”

Hamid Reza, 25, owner of Mediterranean Food Centre, said business had taken a 40 per cent hit since the tighter restrictions preventing motorists accessing the street at any time of day came into force two years ago.

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&#13; <p>Average number of minutes that pass before a motorist is caught illegally driving in 240-yard Surrey Street</p>&#13;

“We always had customers at night,” he said. “Everyone would park here, come in the shop and buy their things. Now since they realised there’s cameras, no one’s coming here. One customer said he bought a Red Bull and it cost him £60 because of the fine.”

He added: “I don’t understand what difference it makes for the council after 7pm. Already the street is empty.”

Brian Macdowall, a spokesman from the Alliance of British Drivers, said the street was one of the worst for fines in the South-East. He added: “Clearly the council is on a revenue-raising drive.”

Separate figures show that from December 12 to February 4, 121 drivers took Surrey Street fines to tribunal; 25 were upheld and cancelled.

A council spokesman said: “Surrey Street has been closed to vehicles without an appropriate permit for more than a year and signs at either end of the road clearly advise motorists of this…

"Any surplus money from parking enforcement is spent on funding the Freedom Pass for Croydon residents, a travel scheme for the over-sixties.”

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