Flouters face High St ban fines at last (From Oxford Mail)

Flouters face High St ban fines at last

8:03am Tuesday 27th March 2007 in News By Giles Sheldrick

Drivers who ignored the ban on cars in parts of Oxford today will be the first to be fined £60.

Oxfordshire County Council has had a 'grace period' for the past month by just sending warnings to those caught driving along Oxford's historic High Street between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Cameras enforcing the city centre traffic ban went live a month ago, but only today did the county council announce it was sending out fines.

In the month since they were switched on, 3,000 drivers have been spotted flouting the ban - a potential £180,000 revenue-raiser for County Hall.

But the Tory-run authority insisted on a softly-softly approach to start.

David Robertson, cabinet member for transport, has kept his promise that fines would be "flying out by the end of the month". He said: "We will be sending out penalty charge notices. This means we will be able to enforce the restrictions put in place as part of the Oxford Transport Strategy. People need to be aware of this."

Bus gates, marking the start of the restrictions in Castle Street, George Street and Magdalen Street, were installed when the Oxford Transport Strategy was launched in 1999 and only buses, taxis and licensed private hire vehicles are allowed to use the roads between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

But other drivers began ignoring the ban, as a law was not in place to prosecute anyone using camera footage, while police spot-checks were infrequent.

A change has allowed the issuing of fines to drivers based on CCTV footage alone.

In common with parking fines, the £60 fines will be reduced to £30 if payment is made within 14 days.

County council parking control manager Helen Crozier said: "The first day in which the bus gate cameras were used in earnest was yesterday.

"At the moment it is too early to say how many penalty charge notices will be issued. Each potential breach of the bus gate is double checked. Only then is a decision taken on if a penalty charge notice is issued."

The cameras have the support of Oxford City Council and the city's bus operators, who blame car congestion for delays to many services.

Steve Howell, the county council's head of transport, added: "We're confident the cameras will provide an effective way of deterring offenders, which will help decrease journey times for bus passengers and improve the city centre environment for everyone."