The motoring association said recent rulings by London Tribunals’ traffic adjudicators show at least six councils have handed out £130 fines based on restrictions and enforcement cameras which lack up-to-date paperwork.
Between December 13 and January 4, two such cases in Lambeth were overturned on appeal, as well as one in Croydon.
In all three cases, an adjudicator found that the local authority had not provided evidence to show that the alleged contravention was an enforceable restriction.
Instead, the restriction either appeared to have expired or invalidated by a subsequent order at the time the fine was handed down.
In one case, a driver was fined for being in a bus lane in Kennington Road on July 13 last year, but an adjudicator found that the restriction appeared to be an experimental traffic management order (TMO) that had expired almost 12 months earlier.
Lambeth has now told Your Local Guardian that the TMOs which led to the two fines are in fact permanent and valid, but admitted that the wrong paperwork was provided at appeal.
Despite this, the AA believes these cases are “the tip of the iceberg”.
For each successful appeal, “perhaps hundreds more” drivers who receive fines pay up within 14 days to secure the 50% discount for early payment, the AA said.
Fines for bus lane infringements and moving traffic offences should only be issued when TMOs are valid, they added.
Adjudicators have also ruled in drivers’ favour because councils failed to provide current certification for enforcement cameras.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has now revealed to the PA news agency that a revamp of TMOs which govern local road restrictions will be proposed.
The AA also analysed statistics from London Councils – an organisation representing the capital’s 32 borough councils and the City of London – which showed 56% of appeals made by drivers against bus lane fines in the city were either upheld or not contested in the 2023/24 financial year.
For moving traffic offences such as stopping in a yellow box when not allowed, the figure was 35%.
Combined, the successful appeals represent nearly 7,300 cases.
The AA raised concerns about why drivers were forced to spend time and money going through the appeals process, when the fines could have been cancelled after they first contacted councils to complain.
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said that the inclusion of the incorrect TMO in the appeal pack has now been “picked up as a training issue with the officers involved”.
They added: “Lambeth are completely compliant with regards to the legislative requirements for our enforcement cameras.
“However, if a motorist feels that they have been issued with a ticket unfairly they are able to challenge it through the statutory procedure, which also includes an independent appeal process.”
Croydon Council has been approached for a response.
Some reporting by PA.
