More than 56,000 motorists were caught entering a restricted road in Haringey’s St Ann’s low-traffic neighbourhood, potentially generating millions of pounds in penalty charges over four years.
Figures released following a freedom of information request show that 56,260 vehicles were recorded entering without permission between the introduction of the scheme in August 2022 and October 2026.
The full penalty charge is £160, although motorists can pay at a 50 per cent discount. On that basis, the fines could have amounted to more than £9 million at the full rate, or at least £4.5 million if every driver paid early.
Haringey Council disputes that calculation, saying it received “about £2million” from the penalty notices.
Drivers caught by cameras on La Rose Lane
The restrictions are enforced by cameras at both ends of La Rose Lane, formerly known as Black Boy Lane. In November 2022 alone, 3,704 penalty notices were issued at one end of the road and 3,117 at the other.
The council’s figures show that 6,800 motorists were caught in the area during that month. May was recorded as the worst month for drivers receiving penalties.
Anne Quinn, who used to live locally, said she had received repeated fines and challenged her penalty-charge notices. She said the planters initially distracted her and that she thought they were linked to an event in nearby Chestnut Park.
“I submitted the freedom-of-information request to see how many other people were missing the road-closure signs,” she said. “The data show the council’s signs are not clear. I think they are ripping people off.”
Haringey Council said the planters were installed as a “fast, cost-effective temporary way to create modal filters”. The measures are intended to encourage walking, cycling and wheeling, while allowing permitted vehicles, including eligible buses, bikes and mobility scooters, to pass.
The authority said the filters were clearly signposted on both sides of the road and on the planters. It added that exemptions covered more than 15,000 people, including blue-badge holders.
However, a road safety audit commissioned by the council in 2022 identified hazards linked to the scheme. It recorded a risk of “head-on type collisions” when motorists unaware of the restrictions made U-turns, as well as unsafe manoeuvres and sudden braking.
The audit also found that some lorries and buses were forced to mount the footway or cross the centre line. Engineers recommended that the low-traffic neighbourhood should be revisited to determine whether the problems could be addressed.
A council spokesperson said the figures suggesting £9 million had been raised were “wholly inaccurate”, because drivers could pay at a reduced rate or challenge their fines, while penalty charges had changed since the scheme was introduced.
La Rose Lane was renamed in 2023 after the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. It takes its name from black poet John La Rose.
Other London low-traffic neighbourhoods
Other London schemes have also generated substantial sums in penalty charges. Croydon Council collected more than £13 million across six low-traffic neighbourhoods between November 2023 and February 2026, an average of about £300,000 a month.
The High Court later ruled that those traffic measures were unlawful and said they had been put in place mainly to make money. Croydon Council scrapped the six schemes, but figures from August showed that only £520,951—about four per cent of the money collected—had been refunded to motorists.
