Seventy motorists are still being fined every day for straying into the prohibited traffic zone in the centre of Tunbridge Wells.
New restrictions outside the Town Hall started being enforced in March 2023 and since then thousands of motorists have found themselves trapped in the confusing road layout and incurring a fine.
Those who appealed have up to now had their fine waived for the first mistake.
According to latest figures obtained on 11th February 2025 by a Freedom of Information request, £2.95 million of revenue has been raised for the council so far. That's money councils can only spend on future road, pavement and cycle lane improvements.
In the last 16 weeks up to 17th January 2025, 8,348 Penalty Notices were issued (74 every day on average), with 759 successful appeals.
Many local businesses say the confusing system of restrictions is causing some shoppers to avoid Tunbridge Wells.
Local resident Sally Atkinson (below), who has been campaigning for two years for changes to make the restrictions simpler and clearer, obtained the latest figures. She told West Kent Radio that: "I suggest the signage remains unclear."
Sally Atkinson wants a system to allow local residents to avoid the huge diversions they currently have to make to look for parking spaces in their own streets.
One option would be to "whitelist" residents, so allowing them to avoid the longest loops and travel past the Town Hall without being fined.
She says she can't understand why residents can't be "whitelisted" when the council admits 356 vehicles (excluding buses and taxis) are already on a "whitelist" exemption for undisclosed reasons.
Sally told West Kent Radio: "The reason I had been given for declining whitelisting by TWBC was because other drivers would be lured into the PR2 trap by following whitelisted residents. But if the signage is as robust as both councils claim, then this could not happen, especially as there is no evidence to suggest it is an issue with the vehicles currently whitelisted".
She continues: "KCC alternatively stated whitelisting is expensive to operate. Given the scheme is already in operation for 356 vehicles, extending it to the permit holding residents of Dudley/York will not create a new financial burden".
Meanwhile, local Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors remain at odds over who is to blame for the confusing system.
Some signs that have a red circle telling cars they are not welcome are apparently about to be replaced by blue signs telling buses and cycles that only they are welcome to use the road.
The Liberal Democrats say the Conservative run Kent County Council is responsible for this change which could further add to confusion.
Meanwhile one Conservative KCC councillor has accused the Liberal Democrat run Tunbridge Wells Borough Council of running a "revenue raising lark".
THERE IS MORE REPORTING BELOW ON THIS TOPIC BY SIMON FINLAY OF THE LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTING SERVICE:
New road signs to deter motorists from straying into town centre bus lanes could hit them hard in the pocket, it has been claimed.
Mike Martin MP (pictured below) says the proposed blue circular boards “imply permission” for drivers to enter a zone where they could be fined up to £70.
Mr Martin has invited Kent County Council (KCC) highways bosses to walk the route in Tunbridge Wells town centre to explain his concerns and those of the local council, residents and road users.
They argue red circle signs elsewhere in the town are a more effective deterrent.
In a letter to Cllr Neil Baker, the KCC highways chief, Mr Martin said: “Together with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC), residents have repeatedly raised issues to KCC.
“So far, these complaints and suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. In our view, the changes proposed in the consultation…will make the situation worse as the proposed blue signage…is unclear to motorists.
“Blue signs imply permission but the main message of the sign is that going through the traffic scheme is forbidden.”
The Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, who won his seat at the general election last July, argued there are red circular signs elsewhere in the town centre and should be used in bus lanes near the war memorial at Mount Pleasant.
Mr Martin’s letter added: “We would like to invite you (Cllr Baker) to Tunbridge Wells to walk around the scheme at your earliest convenience, with a view to jointly commissioning an independent traffic expert to propose solutions. This would be funded by the borough council.
“Whilst this is happening, we would ask that you postpone the planned changes which will, in our view, worsen the situation, not improve it.”
The traffic scheme has been in place for around two years and has been administered by TWBC. Nearly 12,000 fines were issued in the past 12 months with a possible £840,000 in fines although the amount collected is likely to have been substantially lower due to early payments, non-payers and appeals.
Under the current review, Kent County Council will take over the administration of, and income from, the scheme in future but Cllr Baker insists the scheme aims to change driver behaviour, not to raise money.
The blue signs are part of its standardisation of the network in Kent and are in line with the Highway Code.
Shoppers in the town seemed to agree with Mr Martin’s assessment when shown photos of the red signs and the new blue ones.
Sue Callaghan, who lives locally, was fined after being caught out driving through an existing blue sign elsewhere in Tunbridge Wells.
She said: “It wasn’t until afterwards and I had the fine and the letter that I saw the signs. Why is it a blue circle? It makes more sense to have a red circle.”
Guy Watson, of Rochester, said: “To me the red sign is more obvious and the blue one doesn’t say no cars, so some people would be confused.”
A KCC statement said: “As the local highways authority, we need to ensure all Moving Traffic Enforcement sites across Kent are in line with legislation. Changing the signage in Tunbridge Wells to blue signs complies with the Department for Transport guidance, and means our approach is consistent across Kent – the same blue signs are already in use at other active enforcement locations in Ashford, Dartford, Dover and Gravesend.”
‘We understand concerns that the new signs will be blue rather than red, however, these signs are compliant with the Highway Code.
“A warning period is in place for six months at the new sites to ensure all motorists are aware of the restriction and can plan another route in future to avoid receiving a penalty charge notice.”
KCC explained a motorist will be allowed one contravention but will be fined £70 thereafter, but halved if paid within 21 days. There is no fixed start date for the new enforcement.
The council said: “Following government legislation, we are obliged to issue a warning notice to the driver for their first offence during the first six months that the site becomes live. The notice sets out that any further contravention will result in a penalty charge notice being issued.”
KCC’s Chairman of the environment and transport committee, Cllr Sean Holden (pictured above), himself a former Tunbridge Wells Borough councillor, said: “All the noises the Liberal Democrats are making are covering up the fact they fined thousands of people for simply making a mistake.
“It has just been a revenue raising lark and have been pretty unrepentant about it.”
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