New report reveals Met Police has spent 1,600 days fighting LTN fines since 2020

The Metropolitan Police has spent more than 1,600 days fighting Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) fines from councils across the country since 2020, according to a new report.

LTNs are urban planning and transportation management systems, designed to reduce motor vehicle traffic and prioritise other modes of transportation. According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from The Times. the Met Police have been issued more than 54,000 fines for road-related offences, with half of those linked to LTNs across the UK.

LTN rules allow police vehicles to access restricted areas when responding to emergencies, but unmarked Met vehicles are reportedly being hit with fines. 

The Met Police says that each fine takes about 25 minutes to process. This means that more than 12,000 hours have been spent by the police processing these fines – the equivalent of nearly 1,600 days. The Met has confirmed that police officers are liable for the LTN penalties if they cannot prove they were acting as part of an emergency police response. 

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Opposition to LTNs has been widespread amongst drivers, despite the impact they have on improving air quality. Traffic Calming Measures, such as speed humps, chicanes, road closures, and narrowed roadway can make journeys longer.

They also use a concept called ‘filtered permeability’ that allows pedestrians and cyclists to move more freely while limiting the flow of motor vehicles – some of which do not appear on sat navs.

There are also entry and exit points to the LTN may be restricted or controlled, often through the use of bollards, gates, or camera enforcement.

A police source told The Times: “We've been told for years that paperwork was going to end and we'd be out on the streets permanently. But we're still doing more paperwork than ever. It wastes a lot of our time.'

“We should have some way of just going back via commander level saying 'this is a list of the tickets you've sent – they are police vehicles, full stop'.”

What do you make of LTNs? Leave your comments below.