Spy cameras make a million in one street

Camden Gazette reports

A ROAD where sneaky CCTV cameras hit illegally parked drivers with more than £1million in fines in a year has been revealed.

There are at least seven fixed CCTV cameras spying on errant motorists in Kentish Town Road - and, in 2007, they were responsible for the issuing of £1.09million in fines.

In total, fixed CCTV cameras pointed at the borough's drivers - trained to catch people parked illegally and also those doing banned turns, blocking box junctions or straying into forbidden bus lanes - issued more than £9.2million in fines from 139,828 tickets last year.

This is the equivalent to one fine being dished out every four minutes.

And the most costly spot for motorists overall was Southampton Row, Bloomsbury.

There fixed CCTV cameras clocked up a staggering £2.5million in fines last year - around £1.6million for moving traffic offences such as banned turns, around £612,000 for going into bus lanes and around £234,000 for parking illegally.

Barrie Segal, who runs the UK-wide AppealNow.com website, said: "I think readers will be absolutely astonished. It's an incredible figure.

"I believe the cameras are being used as 'a shoot first, ask questions later' enforcement, which I think is illegal.

"The guidance to local authorities is that CCTV cameras should only be used where it's inappropriate for parking attendants to patrol."

The figures were obtained by the Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act. They showed that around 130 fixed CCTV cameras issued driving fines across more than 160 different roads last year - although they are also used to help catch criminals.

In the 2006-7 financial year, CCTV cameras and cars were responsible for almost a third of the tickets issued to motorists.

Shopkeepers in Kentish Town Road were appalled that their road had issued so many CCTV fines to people stopping on yellow lines - but not surprised.

Traders have long complained that the cameras are putting off customers and strangling business.

Ashley Lambert, the manager of Discount Furniture in Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, said the shop could end up closing.

He said: "We get tickets all the time and our customers get tickets all the time.

"We can probably stick it out for another year but if business keeps going down we won't be here - and we have been here for 15 years. Last year business was down 20 per cent on the year before because of the parking issue."

Kynn Darkwa, sales assistant of Carpetright in Kentish Town Road, said: "I was transferred here because the shop was struggling. But we are still struggling - and it's because of the parking."

Luciano Zazzi, manager of Franchi Locks and Tools in Kentish Town Road, added: "I am shocked by the figure. I didn't expect it to be so high. Local government has sacrificed local businesses for extra finance.

"Most of the time, people are stopping for just a couple of minutes."

But a Camden Council spokesman said: " We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there, and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.

"Kentish Town Road is very narrow and busy. We need to provide space for businesses to load without adding to congestion and this restricts the amount of parking that can be provided.

"Three years ago we reviewed the parking and loading restrictions in and around Kentish Town Road. We relaxed the loading restrictions and introduced pay and display parking where we could - often in the side streets."

Tickets and fines racked up by fixed CCTV cameras in Camden in 2007

THE TOP THREE - ALL PARKING, MOVING TRAFFIC AND BUS LANE OFFENCES

Location Tickets Value

Southampton Row, WC1 23,762 £2,460,470

Grafton Road, NW5 12,564 £1,257,100

Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 10,707 £1,171,520

All 139,828 £9,263,960

THE TOP THREE - PARKING

Location Tickets Value

Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 9,897 £1,090,220

Fortess Road, NW5 4,033 £437,220

Kingsway, WC2 3,373 £364,160

All 47,964 £5,326,560

THE TOP THREE - MOVING TRAFFIC

Location Tickets Value

Southampton Row, WC1 16,141 £1,614,100

Grafton Road, NW5 12,504 £1,250,400

Boswell Street, WC1 8,313 £831,300

All 80,237 £1,987,700

THE TOP THREE - BUS LANES

Location Tickets Value

Kilburn High Road, NW6 1,618 £819,610

Southampton Row, WC1 5,386 £612,350

Haverstock Hill, NW3 1,842 £208,800

All 11,627 £1,949,700

Builder is ready to construct case against parking rules

Ham & High reports

BUILDING firms have hit the roof over Camden's parking policies, with one firm vowing to take the council to the High Court.

Workmen are finding the spiralling cost of builders' permits too expensive and say they are crippling their trade.

Richard Chaumeton, who runs DG Builders in Grafton Road, Kentish Town, has been slapped with more than 100 parking tickets and believes the council is using parking penalties merely to line its coffers.

In a letter addressed to council leader Keith Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton also criticises the high cost of builders' permits, which he estimates have risen by more than 650 per cent in two and a half years.

"I'm going to start legal action - either a judicial review or a straight action," he said.

"I'm going to issue a High Court summons against the council and its parking services because they are using the process to earn an income.

"This is against the law and in doing this they are behaving in a vexatious manner and abusing their position of office."

In April 2005 it cost £5 a day for a builder's permit. But from this month the price has risen to £33 a day - a cost that is passed on to clients.

In his letter to Cllr Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton said: "Can I suggest you rename the department 'Parking Mugging Services' because I don't really find that you do anyone a service - especially the ratepayers that have building work on their houses."

Mr Chaumeton also believes that by only offering permits by the day rather than by the hour the council is deliberately trying to rake in more cash.

Despite accruing so many parking tickets, the builder has only paid five fines - two of which he admits were legitimate. He said parking officers who know him no longer bother to issue him with parking tickets.

"I say to them go on - give me a ticket, but they don't. Why am I different to anyone else?" he said.

Jack McFadyen, director of JMF Joinery with offices in South Hill Park, also disagrees with the way the builders' permit system is managed.

He said: "The increased cost doesn't affect me directly, but it's definitely unfair on the taxpayer and I'm sure a lot of it is to do with revenue.

"I don't think the system itself is unfair but the way it's managed is. In terms of the parking ticket situation in general it's very frustrating if you're in a service industry like this.

"You constantly have to run around with pound coins in your pocket and it just makes everything that little bit more stressful."

A Camden Council spokesman said the change in the price of builders' permits was introduced alongside other measures to improve the flexibility of the scheme.

He said: "We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.

"We utterly refute any suggestion they are used simply to raise revenue - road casualty statistics in Camden fell to their lowest ever level last year, with no recorded child fatalities."

Mr Chaumeton is urging people who have had similar experiences to contact him, by emailing richardchaumeton@yahoo.co.uk.

o For more information on contesting parking fines you can visit www.parkingappeals.co.uk.