Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A new FOI request shows Croydon Council issued £1.4m in fines for LTN breaches in just one month, intensifying scrutiny over the controversial scheme.
According to reports, Croydon municipality established six LTNs that they said would enhance the borough’s environment, but locals think they were actually used “for the dominant purpose” of earning millions of pounds to pay off municipal debts.
A group of Croydon residents have filed a lawsuit under the name “Open our Roads,” which bills itself as an “independent campaign organised by a group of local cross-party residents who care passionately about their community.” “The removal of poorly planned and implemented LTNs in SE19 and SE25” is what they claim to be advocating for.
The organization, which currently has 2,500 supporters via its Facebook site, alleges that the council was acting illegally by taxing drivers in order to ease its financial difficulties at the time. In the past five years, Croydon Council has filed for bankruptcy three times.
On behalf of the citizens, attorney Kevin Leigh informed the High Court that the adoption of LTNs was driven “clearly by the huge revenue that comes from enforcement.”
He said:
‘It’s not coincidental that this happened at the same time the council was in dire financial straits. There’s an ulterior motive.’
But according to Croydon Council, LTNs were initially implemented in 2020 “as a response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” to help with social alienation. In order to provide “streets that are safer as well as streets,” they were later made permanent in February 2024.
Leigh told ELL that while he anticipated the court would deliver the ruling this week or next, it might take until the New Year.
LTNs are a contentious issue in London. Residents of Tower Hamlets have been fighting to maintain and enhance the pedestrian-friendly streets that were first put in place in 2021. Since then, Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman has pledged to “reopen the roads.”
According to the organization “Save Our Safer Streets,” this £2.5 million proposal will undo prior years’ gains in improving road safety, lowering air pollution, and encouraging more walking and cycling, all of which will improve the borough’s general health results. The group is awaiting the outcome of a hearing in the Court of Appeal.
What legal grounds are challengers using against Croydon’s LTN fine policy?
A Freedom of Information request has revealed Croydon Council issued £1.4 million in Low Business Neighbourhood (LTN) forfeitures in a single month likely November 2025 fueling claims that the schemes serve more as profit tools than genuine business operation amid the ongoing High Court challenge.
This data bolsters the judicial review case by Open Our Roads, where heirs argue LTNs transgress the Road Traffic Regulation Act by prioritising income over environmental pretensions, especially after Mayor Perry’s £20m comment; similar volumes (potentially 8,750 PCNs at £160 each) suggest deliberate high- breach design.
Croydon, under government intervention for fiscal mismanagement, faces allegations of treating forfeitures as a” fat cash cow” to neutralize ruin- period poverty, with earlier protrusions of £10.7m over four years now under courtroom analysis.