If there are so many drivers failing to heed the signs then those in charge of traffic management should be replaced by engineers who will come up with a more effective solution to manage traffic and get drivers to comply ... but that would cause the cash to dry up!
I am sure that this is just the beginning of the Grafton Road story ;-)

Revealed: The £5m raised by one camera on Britain’s most baffling road
By Andrew Buckwell
Mail on Sunday
29th May 2011

Motorists have been fined a staggering £5 million for driving down a quiet residential street which has been dubbed ‘Britain’s most baffling road’.
More than 41,000 drivers have been hit with penalties after a council erected nine signs that confuse everyone who enters the road, and a CCTV camera.

Most confusing is the rule that bans motorists from driving one way down the street in the morning and then from going in the opposite direction in the afternoon.

Last night campaigners accused the Labour-controlled Camden Council in North London of using motorists as a ‘cash cow’ to help boost Town Hall coffers.
Paul Pearson, a parking campaigner who runs the Penalty Charge Notice website, said: ‘It’s absolutely staggering. This is highway robbery. It’s one of most profitable cameras in the country – and it’s in a residential street.

‘This is a clear case of using cameras to raise revenue for a cash-strapped Town Hall.’

Until five years ago, access to Grafton Road in Kentish Town was restricted by a hydraulic bollard and a set of traffic lights that showed either red or green, depending on the position of the bollard.
Then, in 2006, the council lowered the bollard and introduced signs and a camera to capture breaches.
Drivers are now confronted with nine signs, the set of defunct traffic lights and the sunken bollard.

Confusing: Camden Council has been raking it in thanks to these baffling signs
The mouth of the road has been divided into three sections with a
central section blocked off and accessible only by emergency vehicles, with lanes for cars either side.

As the traffic is funnelled into the lanes, the confusion begins.
Two pairs of access signs warn cars and motorbikes of restrictions to their passing, indicating the exact times they cannot pass – 7am to 10am one way, 2pm to 7pm the other.
Then there are two no-entry signs applying to the lane on the other side of the road, one width-restriction sign, one cycle sign and a traffic-camera sign.

Figures revealed in a Freedom of Information request by The Mail on Sunday show that the camera caught 41,237 motorists between October 2006 and March 2011, at a rate of almost 800 a month.

Motorist David Howard, 51, said: ‘The signs are so small and numerous you have to slam on your brakes to see them, by which time you’ve been flashed. I bet everyone going down it the first time receives a ticket. I’m certain it’s deliberate.’

A Camden Council spokesman last night denied the camera was a trap. He said: ‘The signs stating the restrictions are clear to motorists.’

More successes ... more cancellations ... praise for Southwark Council

Tickets cancelled. Refunds given. Great work by the NoToMob team BUT respect to Southwark Council for making the refunds and correcting the error

Hundreds of parking tickets cancelled
South London Press
Tuesday, 01 March 2011

MORE than 550 parking tickets have been cancelled after campaigners exposed them to be unlawful, it has emerged.
Southwark council fined 557 drivers after extending a loading bay in Valmar Road, near Coldharbour Lane in Camberwell.

But an investigation by campaign group NoToMob revealed the town hall had not issued a legal traffic management order about the extension – so all the tickets were invalid.
The fines were issued between January and November last year.

NotoMob was set up by motorbike riders to challenge what it describes as “revenue-driven parking enforcement”.
A spokesman for the group said: “Town hall parking enforcement is about revenue generation and not road safety.
“CCTV enforcement is being used to rake in cash at honeytraps while locations such as school crossings are being ignored.
“We plan to expose all councils which issue tickets under dubious circumstances.”

A Southwark council spokesman said: “As soon as we realised the mistake it was corrected.
“All drivers who had paid the penalty charge notices were contacted and given refunds and all other tickets were cancelled.”

Big Bother for Big Brother ...

Will they ever learn?
Come on guys ... it isn't difficult to get it right. Just do the decent thing and put the signs up and use CCTV as a deterrent. If you are going to use Smartcars have an open access council website and tell motorists where the Smartcars are going to be so then there will be no excuse for motorists. Get them outside schools catching motorists parking on the school keep clear signs where safety is important. Combine that with a road safety programme for the children alerting them to the dangers of their parents parking on zig-zags. The voice of a six year old telling a parent off far outweighs any 'sneaky' enforcement which only creates resentment and anger.
However, the landscape will change somewhat when we step into the realms of moving traffic enforcement which has now been taken out of the hands of the Police. Do the legal draftsmen and the Department for Transport really know what they are doing? More to be revealed soon. Meanwhile, this is in tomorrow's Telegraph.

Motorists must have warning of parking spy cameras
Thousands of motorists could have their parking tickets quashed after an appeal tribunal cancelled a fine issued by Wirral Borough Council, ruling that councils using spy cameras must put up warning signs.
By David Millward,
Transport Editor
03 Aug 2009

The decision by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will have implications for 32 councils who have been given permission to use cameras by the Department for Transport.
Rachel Johnson, 34, challenged three parking tickets which were issued on the basis of evidence gathered by Smart Cars fitted with enforcement cameras by the council, which is based in Merseyside.

Related Articles
Council to repay motoring fines as signs were too small
Councils to use cameras to catch drivers
Parking tickets up fivefold in six years
CCTV parking fine councils fail to get permission to use new system
CCTV evidence can lead to parking fine

Her claim that the tickets - known as penalty charge notices - were invalid was upheld by the adjudicator, who agreed that notices should be posted warning drivers that cameras were in operation.
Miss Johnson described the cameras as "sneaky" and said the behaviour of the council was outrageous.
''These spy camera cars are an alarming invasion of privacy and smack of a way to raise money,'' she added.

According to the tribunal, such cameras should be used "sparingly" and only in areas where civil enforcement officers - as traffic wardens are now known.
Widely used in London, camera parking enforcement is spreading to the provinces and it is already in use in Medway, Nottingham, Bournemouth, South Tyneside, and Basildon.

In what it describes as "operational guidance", the Department for Transport has advised councils to warn motorists when they are being used.
"Motorists may regard enforcement by cameras as over-zealous and authorities should use them sparingly. The Secretary of State recommends that authorities put up signs to tell drivers that they are using cameras to detect contraventions," the guidance adds.

The ruling is a victory for campaigners such as Neil Herron, of ParkingAppeals.co.uk , who have said the guidance should be legally binding.
He welcomed the ruling, saying: "It is another victory for the motorist and a reminder to all local authorities that the legislation is there for a purpose and they can't break the law to enforce the law."

Notes
Anyone with a CCTV PCN e-mail enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk for more information.

Croydon Council parking team caught breaking rule they were enforcing

How many more councils have to be exposed before someone takes action?
There needs to be a change in the legislation to have an independent watchdog with powers to censure and fine local authorities where necessary to prevent this licensed mugging!

This is Croydon
Croydon Council parking team caught breaking rule they were enforcing
Saturday, May 16, 2009

Council parking spies have been blasted as hypocrites for breaking the very rules they were supposed to be enforcing.
A car with a CCTV camera attached to the roof parked on double yellow lines - to try and catch drivers illegally parked on double yellow lines.
The Croydon Council Smart car was caught in central Croydon by shopkeeper Praduman Bhimjiani.
His photographic evidence prompted the council's parking chief to brand the behaviour "unacceptable".

Councillor Phil Thomas explained that council staff were undertaking surveillance work after complaints from a bus company that people were parking on double yellow lines in the road, making it difficult for buses to manoeuvre around them.

He said: "We will investigate the complaint that we were doing it illegally."
But he admitted the evidence appeared damning and added: "We've got to hold our hands up."

Mr Bhimjiani runs NN Confectioners, in Park Street, where the picture was taken - and where he himself was given two parking tickets in January.
The 55-year-old, from Ellesmere Drive, Sanderstead said: "We get a lot of hassle from these people.
"It's not fair on the public really because it's just generating revenue for the council.
"It's also hypocritical. They shouldn't be parking on a double yellow line."
Mr Bhimjiani believes the council should not be excused from breaking the rules.
"If the law is for everybody they should get the penalty as well," he said.

Cllr Thomas confirmed the CCTV car had been in Park Street at around 10.30am last Wednesday (May 6) when the photo was taken.
He added: "It's not acceptable for our staff to be parking on double yellow lines when we ask the public not to do it themselves."

Motorist to sue Lambeth Council over successful CCTV case

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Following the ruling on 28th March in relation to Jonathan Greatorex and his successful appeal in the infamous Salters Hill case, PaTAS adjudicator Joanne Oxlade ordered that Lambeth Council pay Mr Greatorex costs, the amount of £176.80 and further ordered that Lambeth pay this amount to Mr Greatorex within 28 days.

Lambeth Council have failed to pay the amount on time and despite reminders by Mr Greatorex, he was left with no other alternative than to issue proceedings via the County Court today (8th May 2008) in order to enforce the debt.

In a statement, Mr Greatorex said, "More than 28 days have now passed since Lambeth were ordered to pay me costs in relation to this case and surprise, surprise, they have failed to do so!
Despite contacting them on several occasions via letter and telephone, I have been left with no alternative other than to issue proceedings in the County Court against them to get them to pay their debt.Their arrogance throughout this whole matter has been just beyond belief! Yet again, they continue to waste taxpayers money through either their own incompetence or sheer bloody-mindedness."

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Original story at: www.greatorex.org/lambethparking

Jonathan Greatorex,

telephone: 07958 236045

One Nation under CCTV ... Banksy

Last time it was incorrectly terminated double yellow lines ... this time CCTV.

Whose watching the watchers?

Your every movement tracked.

CCTV fines through the post weeks after an alleged contravention. How can you prove the CCTV was wrong and you were somewhere else?

Click on TicketM8 ... and we'll show you how you can have your own evidence of speed and location for your vehicle ... speed to 6 decimal places, location accurate to less than half a metre.

With fines at £120 a go for parking and moving traffic violations and three points and increased insurance costs as well as a £60 fine for speeding can you afford not to have TicketM8 fitted to your vehicle?

CCTV Fines in Yellow Box Junctions ... you want your money back?

Had a Penalty Charge Notice by CCTV in a yellow box junction

Are you aware that many of the yellow box junctions are unlawfully marked and as such any fines levied are recoverable in law?

In the coming months we will be highlighting which ones are illegal. If you subscribe to the site you can check the news as it breaks ready to claim refunds.

If you want to be kept informed either register on the site or e-mail us at admin@parkingappeals.co.uk with a blank e-mail with 'INFO' and we will send you a free monthly report as we expose which junctions are illegal.