Bank box junction nets City of London £8 million in fines from 207,000 penalties

Drivers flouting a safety measure at a notorious junction in the City of London have been fined more than £8 million, it can be revealed today.

In excess of 207,000 penalties have been issued to motorists since only buses and cyclists were allowed to cross Bank junction during weekdays. Of these, 122,169 have been paid, generating £8,196,062 for the City of London Corporation, the Square Mile’s local authority.

Taxi drivers today blasted the £130 charges as a “cash cow”, but safety campaigners said the trial ban of lorries, cars and vans had slashed injuries.

Casualties have fallen by 52 per cent at the junction, and by 33 per cent in the wider area, the City Corporation said. City politicians are deciding whether to make the 7am-7pm restrictions permanent.

The ban was introduced in May last year after the death of cyclist Ying Tao, 26, who was crushed by a left-turning HGV as she rode to work in 2015. The coroner at her inquest two years ago agreed not to order the City Corporation to take decisive action to prevent future deaths only because he was assured the trial scheme was about to be introduced.

Details of the penalty charge regime were obtained by the Standard under freedom of information laws. A total of 207,851 tickets were issued between June 7 and April 6, of which more than 85,000 remained unpaid.

At its peak, almost 47,000 tickets were being issued a month — generating more than £1.75 million a month for the City Corporation. Drivers pay £65 if the fines are paid within a fortnight.

The six-lane junction beside the Bank of England used to be the worst location in the City for road casualties. From 2012-16 there were 107, including two fatalities.

In the £1.4 million scheme’s first 10 months, there were seven injuries recorded, only one of them known to be serious. This compares with an average of 14.4 injuries in previous years.

The number of road casualties in the wider area around Bank fell by 33 per cent, from 51 to 34. There was also an improvement in air quality.

Bus journeys across Bank were three to five minutes faster but most diverted taxi journeys took longer — making average fares about £2.50 higher.

The London Cycling Campaign wants the ban to operate 24 hours a day — but cab drivers want to be given special permission to use the junction. A consultation found 75 per cent of the 4,300 respondents supported the ban or wanted it to remain with changes; 25 per cent were opposed.

The City Corporation said: “Our number-one priority for the experimental scheme is to improve safety.”