Lewisham Council in London has apologised for breaking a promise not to fine people for driving on roads in a Low Traffic Neighbourhood when a a burst water main caused a main road to be impassible.

The Daily Telegraph reports a local resident has forced the to admit it broke its promise and in fact issued 421 penalty charge notices (PCNs) worth £54,730 in the Lee Green LTN on 6 January.

The Telegraph quotes a council spokeswoman as saying: “As a result of an internal miscommunication in relation to the implementation of this policy, a number of PCNs were issued in error on January 6.

“While many of these PCNs have already been cancelled, we have cancelled any outstanding PCNs issued on this date and are refunding anybody who has already paid a PCN issued in error on this date.

“We have written to anybody who was issued with a PCN on this date in error to update them on this. We apologise for any confusion in relation to this issue and any inconvenience caused as a result.”

The report says she added that the “internal miscommunication” was a result of a “delay in information being cascaded between relevant teams”.

(File picture – Lewisham Safer Streets)