Croydon scraps LTNs after having to pay back over £10,000,000 to drivers

Drivers in Croydon who were fined by the borough’s six Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) cameras are set to get their money back.

Croydon Council will have to repay around £10.7 million to motorists who were issued Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) from six LTNs after they were found to be unlawful.

Tens of thousands of fines, worth £160 each, were sent out to drivers who breached the restrictions, which are designed to cut motor traffic on residential roads, including rat running.

The cash-strapped borough was ordered to pay back drivers who were caught by traffic cameras between March 2024 and March 2026 at its six LTNs after a High Court judgement earlier this month.

Now all six of Croydon’s LTNs have been removed, and drivers will no longer be fined by the enforcement cameras on those roads.

Where were the Croydon LTNs removed?

The LTN restrictions, known as Healthy Neighbourhood traffic schemes, have now been taken down on Albert Road, Dalmally Road, Elmers Road, Holmesdale Road, Parsons Mead and Sutherland Road, the borough said.

Other LTNs, like school streets, are unaffected by the ruling.

The High Court deemed that Croydon’s six LTNs were installed primarily for generating cash for the borough, so they should be removed.

Jason Perry, the mayor of Croydon, confirmed last week that he has ‘ended those schemes and we will not be appealing.’

Perry, who is standing as the Conservative candidate in the borough’s mayoral election in May, vowed that while he is in the job ‘these LTNs will not be returning to Croydon.’

He said on X: ‘The priority now is making sure residents can easily claim back any fines they paid.

‘We will be contacting people where we hold email addresses, launching a simple online claim form, and providing a checker so residents can see if they are eligible for a refund.

‘We will make the process as straightforward as possible. And while I am Mayor, these LTNs will not be returning to Croydon.’

While in opposition, the mayor was against the LTNs, saying he would like to scrap them when he was in power.

However, he later changed his mind due to budgetary considerations, Mr Justice Pepperall wrote in the judgment.

Croydon faces a £1.4 billion budget black hole, and concerns are growing about how the ‘unsustainable’ financial situation could impact residents and services.

Reaction to the LTN removal

Open Our Roads, a campaign group opposing LTNs in Croydon, said residents ‘deserve transparency and decisions based on evidence, not financial necessity,’ following the ruling.

Rowenna Davis, a councillor and Labour mayor candidate for Croydon, told Metro: ‘The most important thing with LTNs is that we do what local people want.

‘In some places, like school streets, LTNs are super welcome and popular, but in other areas, residents find them really inappropriate and difficult.

‘We have to be guided by what the people want and need, and not by plugging financial holes in the council’s budget. It is unacceptable to be catching out motorists in a cost-of-living crisis to plug black holes in a budget.’

In Tower Hamlets, the east London council led by mayor Lutfur Rahman lost its appeal over LTNs in Columbia Road, Arnold Circus and Old Bethnal Green Road it wanted to take down.

Local campaigners from Save Our Streets welcomed the decision as a victory for residents, while the council said it was ‘disappointed.’

Rahman said the council has taken the case to the Supreme Court to have the LTNs removed and to ‘reopen these roads.’

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