London council raked in over £7 million in two years from six unlawful LTNs

The six schemes were quashed after the judge ruled they were mainly in place to make money.

Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) aim to restrict traffic in residential areas by installing bollards, planters or traffic cameras to stop cars driving through.

The council pocketed £7,210,328.18 from the six LTNs between March 2024 and February 2026 - an average of £300,000 a month.

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In April 2024, the council made more than £480,000 from the cameras, the highest amount in a single month.

Mr Justice Pepperall told the council he was "satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the dominant purpose for these orders making the schemes permanent was the need to safeguard the revenue raised by enforcement."

The south London borough now has no active LTNs.

Croydon has since said motorists can apply for full refunds via the council's website but did not state whether the full revenue generated by the LTNs would be handed back.

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Karen Lawrence, who led the legal action against the LTNs, told the Daily Mail: “These closures had such a big impact on my movement around Croydon. I am so glad the courts vindicated what we all thought these were truly about money.”

The resident group Open Our Roads, which Ms Lawrence is a member of, said it was "shocked" by the extent of Croydon's revenue-raising from the LTNs.

A spokesperson said: "The figures quoted suggest they were not performing their stated objectives, given the high level of enforcement revenue, but we are pleased the current administration has swiftly put processes in place to refund the fines wrongfully taken".

The group added that despite many messages of thanks, residents of other boroughs had shared "tales of despair" at the hefty sums raked in by their councils.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "The law is clear that money raised from enforcement is strictly ring-fenced, and councils must make sure any Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are lawful and shaped with local communities."

In the High Court judgement, Mr Justice Pepperall highlighted the criticism of the schemes by Croydon's Conservative mayor Jason Perry when he was in opposition, who said he would remove them if elected.

However after he was elected in May 2022 Mr Perry ditched the idea because of financial considerations.

The court's judgement said he "didn't think he was in a position to remove the schemes because the previous administration had predicated their budgets on assumed income from the schemes".

Mr Perry later said: "I did not at any point say that I would remove all the [LTNs] because I just knew it was not a pledge that I could uphold... any future schemes coming forward should not be based on fining residents in order to achieve it."

Croydon has effectively declared bankruptcy three times since trialling the LTNs in 2020. They were made permanent in 2024.

A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: “Six Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes were introduced in May 2020. Following a recent High Court judgement concerning these schemes, there were two options: to appeal the decision, which could take many months, or to accept the ruling and remove them.

"We did not appeal the judgement and removed the schemes and have started refunding motorists who received Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) whilst the schemes were in operation between 30 March 2024 and 4 March 2026. To request refunds motorists can visit the Council website.”