Preston city centre traffic cameras move a step closer as drivers confess to ignoring no entry sign

The startling confessions were made by several motorists who responded to a public consultation into plans to enforce a no entry restriction on Charnley Street, close to the underground entrance to the Fishergate car park.

Lancashire County Council recently invited comments on a proposal for it to apply to the government for the power to issue fines over so-called “moving traffic offences”, which is currently held solely by the police.

The authority had to specify the initial locations where it would make use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras designed to deter a range of illegal manoeuvres.

Charnley Street was chosen because of concern that the rules on the short one-way section of the road - between St. Wilfrid Street and Corporation Street - were being routinely flouted by motorists seeking a shortcut to avoid just such a camera set-up monitoring the infamous Fishergate bus lane nearby.

County Hall said that drivers were taking to Fox Street and St.Wilfrid Street, before heading down Charnley Street itself - against the permitted flow of traffic - to get out onto Corporation Street.

Several of those who responded to the consultation freely admitted to doing just that - with one even stressing that they had never encountered a problem when making the prohibited trip.

However, their candour in the anonymous survey has nevertheless sent them down a dead end, because the county council is pressing ahead with its plans to erect cameras at the location - in spite of the protestations it received - as a result of concern over the danger being posed to other motorists and pedestrians.

The authority will now submit its application to the government, which, if approved, will allow County Hall to carry out ANPR enforcement of a restriction at another Preston junction just a quarter of a mile away - the U-turn prohibition for vehicles on Ringway at the traffic lights where the busy route meets Bow Lane. Two other locations are also in line for cameras to enforce rules that are being ignored in Lancaster and Accrington.

Unlike the other the other three suggested camera sites, Charnley Street has not seen any recent injury-causing accidents - but highways officials were concerned that the potential for conflict between vehicles emerging illegally onto Corporation Street and those lawfully turning in would come at the narrowest point in the road and could embroil pedestrians who would be crossing in that area, one of whom described the location as like "the wild west".

The county council also rejected suggestions that the one-way system should be removed entirely - as it was briefly during the early part of the pandemic - in order to allow traffic leaving the city centre to take a quicker route onto the A59 or Fishergate Hill, instead of having to make a detour through Avenham. The latter option is currently the only legal way for motorists to avoid the Fishergate "bus gate", as it is officially known, which operates between Mount Street and Corporation Street from 11am until 6pm.

Charnley Street proved the most contentious of the proposed ANPR locations, with a clear majority of consultation respondents - 62 - claiming that there was no issue that needed to be addressed, compared to the 43 who acknowledged that there was a problem. The county council did not reveal exacty how many people admitted to ignoring the one-way rule in force on the street.

Opinion was more finely split over the benefits of enforcing the no U-turn restriction on Ringway at the Bow Lane traffic lights, along with the right-turn ban for outbound Ringway traffic onto Marsh Lane at the same junction. County Hall was concerned that the outlawed manoeuvres - if undertaken regardless - risked the safety of pedestrians, who could be confronted with a vehicle even when the green man was lit in their favour.

While some responses argued that few pedestrians used the junction anyway, others acknowledged that those who did took their lives in their hands because of the possibility of unlawful and unexpected U-turns. The junction has seen four accidents in the last five years - and 58 people who answered the consultation survey recognised that there was an issue, while 52 did not.

Outgoing cabinet member for highways and transport Charlie Edwards said that the bid to acquire the new enforcement powers was an “important and exciting piece of work…to address some of the long-running issues that we face.”

He added: “It's very clear that there is a strong…case for carrying out enforcement in these areas, because there are accidents, [the locations] are attracting a lot of public complaints and everything we are trying to do is make highways as safe as possible - [so] this is a really positive step forward.”

GREEN LIGHTS ALL THE WAY?

If the government gives Lancashire County Council the go-ahead for its plans, it will then be able to use ANPR monitoring of turning restrictions and yellow box junctions at other danger spots without having to seek further permission, although it would still carry out local consultations.

The authority will gain no control over speed enforcement or highway obstruction, which will remain the preserve of the police - and officers will continue to be able to enforce the movement restrictions over which County Hall will also now gain control.

For the first six months after any ANPR camera installation, a driver committing a first offence will be given a warning to educate them about their breach of the rules - but repeat offenders will be handed a £70 fixed penalty notice, which will be halved if paid within 21 days.

County Hall expects that moving traffic enforcement will pay for itself via the penalty notices generated. However, a report presented to cabinet members predicts that there will be far fewer breaches of general movement restrictions than of bus lanes and bus gates, where the authority already has the necessary powers to issue fines.

The ANPR kit and its installation is expected to cost between £20,000 and £25,000 at each location. Any surplus that is ultimately generated would be ploughed back into highways and transport in the county - including schemes to encourage more cycling and walking.