1:18pm Friday 21st November 2008
By Alex Hayes
More tickets were handed out on four unlawful box junctions in eight months this year than in the entirety of last year.
A total of 25,729 penalty notices were sent to drivers between April and November this year, compared to 25,076 in the entire 2007/8 financial year.
Earlier this month Ealing Council announced it was taking up six junctions which did not comply with Department for Transport guidelines.
The announcement followed a series of embarrassing defeats for the council at appeals hearing by drivers and bus companies at the Parking and Traffic Appeals tribunal (PATAS) over the past nine months.
In total £3,181,666.65 was collected on box junctions which were too wide in Southall and Ealing Broadway.
More than £2.1m of the cash was collected from tickets issued on a junction of South Road/St Joseph's Drive in Southall, and a further £1m was taken on three other junctions in Southall.
Campaigners have called for the cash to be handed back to motorists because it was taken on junctions which were unfairly marked, although the council says it will not hand back the cash.
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