Drivers being handed free payment worth up to £180 due to council error

Drivers could benefit from payouts after major penalty error by a Labour Party run council impacted thousands. Reading Borough Council said statutory consultations to correct nine Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) would take place over the coming weeks - five of which led to invalid fines being issued.

The council apologised in October after finding it had incorrectly issued 6,136 penalty charge notices (PCNs) between 2013 and 2024. The authority previously confirmed to the BBC that they may have to reimburse approximately £357,000 to those affected.

The council said it had already contacted motorists who had been incorrectly subject to a debt recovery service. In October, Reading Borough Council apologised after discovering a flaw in its traffic system which saw 6,136 penalties wrongfully issued to drivers along red routes over an 11-year period.

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Red Routes operate with double red lines to prevent vehicles from stopping at any point, with drivers being issued fines when captured by cameras. Out of the nine red route areas, five were deemed to be wrong with drivers subsequently issued fines for traffic violations worth £160 or £80 if paid early.

The Red Route East including Kings Road from its junction with Watlington Street to Cemetery Junction, Wokingham Road and partially into adjoining streets such as Queens Road and London Road was among the areas impacted alongside Waldeck Street Resident Permit Parking and Swainstone Road Resident Permit Parking scheme.

Other areas impacted were Red Route West - Tilehurst and West Reading, Southcote Verge and Footway Parking ban area, including the whole lengths of Southcote Lane, Ashampstead Road, Brunel Road, Circuit Lane, Frilsham Road, Gainsborough Road and Virginia Way and Tilehurst and Kentwood Verge and Footway Parking ban area, including Church End Lane, Lower Elmstone Drive, Mayfair, Norcot Road, Oak Tree Road, Overdown Road, Park Lane, Recreation Road, School Road, The Meadway and Westwood Road.