Lambeth Council has only refunded £126,000 of £1.4m in fines issued to motorists under an unlawful low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN), according to The Telegraph.
A freedom of information revealed that the amount generated from the LTN scheme totalled £1,465,875.96, but up to 26 September, only 1,662 penalty charge notices worth £126,715 had been refunded.
Following a High Court decision in May that the LTN in West Dulwich was unlawful, Lambeth was forced to scrap the scheme and asked to refund the nearly £1.5m it generated from fines while the scheme was in operation.
In a statement to The Telegraph, West Dulwich Action Group said: ‘Other councils, including Southwark and Hackney, have accepted responsibility and refunded motorists when their fines were ruled unlawful.
‘Lambeth’s failure to do the same is unacceptable. At the very least, those motorists whose details are still on record should have already been repaid. Had Lambeth acted promptly when the judgment was issued, far more people would have had their money back by now.
‘Instead, once again we are forced to hold Lambeth to account. They repeatedly tell residents that schemes are imposed “for our own good”, but this handling of refunds shows quite the opposite.’
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: ‘We continue to refund fines, and have set out a clear process that will remain open to anyone affected for the foreseeable future.’
Image credit: chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com
