A judge ruled the LTN schemes were unlawfully introduced to help plug the borough's dire finances, stating that LTNs cannot be used for the principle reason of generating cash. The judge noted the traffic scheme had raised significant revenue and that the dominant purpose for making the schemes permanent was the need to safeguard the revenue raised by enforcement. This decision has immediate financial repercussions for Croydon Council, which is facing demands to refund all penalty fines imposed on motorists, likely running into millions of pounds.
Croydon is one of nine London councils due to receive a total of more than £500m in emergency Government funding, and it has effectively declared bankruptcy three times since 2020. The six LTNs were first established on a temporary basis in 2020 during the pandemic to encourage walking and cycling. They were made permanent in March 2024, with CCTV cameras used to read numberplates of vehicles entering the zones.
The legal challenge in Croydon was spearheaded by Karen Lawrence and the pressure group Open Our Roads. Jason Perry was elected as the first directly elected mayor of Croydon in 2022 and is seeking re-election in the forthcoming London borough elections. The exact amount of fines to be refunded remains unknown, as does the timeline for suspending enforcement and processing refunds.
Whether Croydon Council will appeal the High Court ruling is currently unknown, and the impact of this ruling on other LTN schemes in London also remains unclear, along with the total revenue generated by the six LTN schemes in Croydon.