One south London street collect £1.5m in fines

Over 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 .

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.

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.”