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No doubt most of you are aware of the use of CCTV camera's by councils but for those who don't then here goes.
"Little bit of background about me"
As some of you are already aware I ride a motorcycle and I'am member of MAG (Motorcycle Action Group), I therefore receive the Road Magazine which is full of all the latest issues and campaigns that is happening throughout mainland UK, the EU and around the world.
I've been reading in the Sept/Oct issue about councils having to pay back millions of pounds back to the unfortunate drivers/riders who where wrongly fined, here is the story:
A small group of bikers called 'NoToMob' have proved that some UK councils have raked in millions of pounds from illegally issued traffic offence fines and have forced the councils involved to pay the money back.
The latest ruling in their favour was on March 30th 2012, against Hertfordshire County Council which has been forced to repay approximately £1.4 million to motorists who fell prey to it's unlawful enforcement of a bus lane.
The group was formed in July 2010, by bikers who were concerned that some councils were profiteering from what they saw as the underhand use of CCTV camera's to enforce contraventions of parking and moving traffic regulations.
The primary official reason for CCTV use is to deter motorists and riders from committing offences, so the main activities at first involved the NoToMob bikers 'assisting' the councils by getting off their bikes and warning motorists about hard to spot mobile or static camera's, or equally hard to see signs.
But they soon discovered that some councils had been acting unlawfully themselves at some of the most lucrative locations where tens of thousands of fines were being issued for contravening signs and charging schemes.
Careful examination of the Traffic Management Orders (TMOs) and certification of camera systems used for enforcement revealed that several councils had failed to comply with various legal requirements needed to issue Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) fines lawfully.
The group made many attempts to warn each council involved that they seemed to be issuing fines illegally. But those warnings were ignored until individual test cases were taken to the relevant adjudicators who ruled that tens of thousands of PCNs had indeed been issued illegally.
Then when councils tried to ignore calls to pro-actively pay all the illegally raised revenues back, NoToMob took their evidence to district auditors who ruled that the revenues were illegally raised and could not be held by councils in duly certified accounts.
Westminster Council had to pay back or cancel approximately £48k worth of PCNs after it was discovered that camera cars were enforcing illegally placed signs at the junction of Lower James Street and Brewer Street. The council had erected signs at an exit from what the bikers called Golden Goose Square that were unenforceable under the terms of the Traffic Management Order (TMO).
Meanwhile, Southwark council had to pay back or cancel approximately £67k's worth of PCNs after it was found that it had painted yellow lines in Valmar Road that extended beyond the distance provided for in the TMO.
During last summer, Richmond council was forced to pay back £1.1 million to motorists after it was proved that the CCTV camera cars it was operating were not certified by the Vehicle Certification Agency. When notified of this, Richmond council immediately responded by taking the camera cars off the road. Following a review of it's practices and codes, the council has decided to permanently remove the camera cars.
Next the Road can also report that similar objections regarding sizeable sums of money from potentially illegally issued fines will be lodged against the London Boroughs of Havering, Kensington and Chelsea, Hounslow, Lambeth and Camden along with Medway and 23 other UK local authorities.
All of which looks set to result in many more millions of pounds of unlawfully derived income being returned to motorists and riders - thanks mainly to the efforts of a small group of bikers.
For more details see http://notomob.co.uk/discussions/
"Little bit of background about me"
As some of you are already aware I ride a motorcycle and I'am member of MAG (Motorcycle Action Group), I therefore receive the Road Magazine which is full of all the latest issues and campaigns that is happening throughout mainland UK, the EU and around the world.
I've been reading in the Sept/Oct issue about councils having to pay back millions of pounds back to the unfortunate drivers/riders who where wrongly fined, here is the story:
A small group of bikers called 'NoToMob' have proved that some UK councils have raked in millions of pounds from illegally issued traffic offence fines and have forced the councils involved to pay the money back.
The latest ruling in their favour was on March 30th 2012, against Hertfordshire County Council which has been forced to repay approximately £1.4 million to motorists who fell prey to it's unlawful enforcement of a bus lane.
The group was formed in July 2010, by bikers who were concerned that some councils were profiteering from what they saw as the underhand use of CCTV camera's to enforce contraventions of parking and moving traffic regulations.
The primary official reason for CCTV use is to deter motorists and riders from committing offences, so the main activities at first involved the NoToMob bikers 'assisting' the councils by getting off their bikes and warning motorists about hard to spot mobile or static camera's, or equally hard to see signs.
But they soon discovered that some councils had been acting unlawfully themselves at some of the most lucrative locations where tens of thousands of fines were being issued for contravening signs and charging schemes.
Careful examination of the Traffic Management Orders (TMOs) and certification of camera systems used for enforcement revealed that several councils had failed to comply with various legal requirements needed to issue Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) fines lawfully.
The group made many attempts to warn each council involved that they seemed to be issuing fines illegally. But those warnings were ignored until individual test cases were taken to the relevant adjudicators who ruled that tens of thousands of PCNs had indeed been issued illegally.
Then when councils tried to ignore calls to pro-actively pay all the illegally raised revenues back, NoToMob took their evidence to district auditors who ruled that the revenues were illegally raised and could not be held by councils in duly certified accounts.
Westminster Council had to pay back or cancel approximately £48k worth of PCNs after it was discovered that camera cars were enforcing illegally placed signs at the junction of Lower James Street and Brewer Street. The council had erected signs at an exit from what the bikers called Golden Goose Square that were unenforceable under the terms of the Traffic Management Order (TMO).
Meanwhile, Southwark council had to pay back or cancel approximately £67k's worth of PCNs after it was found that it had painted yellow lines in Valmar Road that extended beyond the distance provided for in the TMO.
During last summer, Richmond council was forced to pay back £1.1 million to motorists after it was proved that the CCTV camera cars it was operating were not certified by the Vehicle Certification Agency. When notified of this, Richmond council immediately responded by taking the camera cars off the road. Following a review of it's practices and codes, the council has decided to permanently remove the camera cars.
Next the Road can also report that similar objections regarding sizeable sums of money from potentially illegally issued fines will be lodged against the London Boroughs of Havering, Kensington and Chelsea, Hounslow, Lambeth and Camden along with Medway and 23 other UK local authorities.
All of which looks set to result in many more millions of pounds of unlawfully derived income being returned to motorists and riders - thanks mainly to the efforts of a small group of bikers.
For more details see http://notomob.co.uk/discussions/
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