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Motorists face a spike in fines as councils are given powers to enforce minor offences

By Tom Gibson | December 4, 2021

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British motorists look set to see a rise in fines as local councils will be given powers by the Department for Transport to enforce minor offences such as driving in cycle lanes.

Motorists face a spike in fines as councils are given powers to enforce minor offences

The RAC has said it is 'fearful' that some authorities may be 'over enthusiastic' in using their new powers for revenue-raising reasons.

In addition to cycle lanes, other offences such as stopping in yellow box junctions, driving in a no entry zone and illegal turns will see local authorities being given the power to issue fines.

The changes are set to come in from spring 2022.

It will be the first time local authorities outside London and Cardiff will have powers to issue penalty charge notices for these types of offences, which are currently enforced by the police elsewhere in Britain.     

The capital cities of England and Wales raked in £58.2million from penalties for these minor infringements in 2018/19, with more than half of funds generated - at £31.4million - from penalties for box junction offences, a report by the RAC revealed last year. 

The RAC has already issued concerns about the new rulings and fear some authorities may be 'over enthusiastic' in using their new powers for revenue-raising reasons, which will see a huge spike in fines being issued to drivers.

They are being enforced in the capitals using 'Big Brother' style Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras scattered across the cities - which will likely be the same case across councils as authorities take control of enforcement.

You can read more on how these cameras look in a separate story here.

The Transport Committee has been pushing for councils to be given powers to enforce these offence types for some time as MPs have argued that tight police budgets and a decline in officer numbers means has resulted in ineffective enforcement of these minor offences.

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