A High Court judge has ruled in the case brought against the London Borough of Croydon’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and found that comments by Mayor Jason Perry proved that the measures were introduced to make money for the cash-strapped council.

Hon Mr Justice Pepperall has ordered Croydon Council to remove the six Low Traffic Neighbourhoods that were made permanent by Mayor Jason Perry in 2024, says Inside Croydon.

The council could now face the prospect of having to refund all the fines it has levied on motorists, going back to when the LTNs in Addiscombe, Broad Green and South Norwood, were introduced as COVID-19 emergency measures in 2020.

The High Court challenge was brought in the name of Karen Lawrence, a member of the Open Our Roads group, who claimed that the council misused their powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 in respect of revenue generation. The case was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on 4 December, with the ruling only released this week.

The case put before the judge was that the LTNs were “dressed up” as having environmental benefits but were used “for the dominant purpose” of raising millions of pounds from the £160-a-time Penalty Charge Notice fines – described as a “fat financial cow” to balance the bankrupt borough’s books.

In his ruling, Judge Pepperall said:

“Taking the relatively modest benefits of the schemes into account together with the Mayor’s apparent lack of public enthusiasm for the road safety or health case for these schemes, and his clear and repeated comments before and after the vote as to his hands being tied by the budgetary considerations, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the dominant purpose for these orders making the schemes permanent was the need to safeguard the revenue raised by enforcement.

“Such purpose was unlawful and I therefore quash the orders.”