Switch-on date for cameras that will catch drivers breaking the rules at four Lancashire junctions
Cameras that will be used to catch motorists making illegal manoeuvres on Lancashire's roads are set to be switched on next week - three years after they were first proposed.
The automatic number plate recognition kit (ANPR) will monitor two junctions in Preston and others in Lancaster and Accrington from 2nd February.
Drivers who breach the turning bans and no entry restrictions in force at the locations will be fined £70 - a charge that will be reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
However, for the first six months after the cameras go live, first-time offenders will be sent a warning notice “to educate [them] about the contravention that they have committed”, Lancashire County Council has said.
The authority applied for permission from the government in 2023 to use new powers granted to councils to enforce so-called ‘moving traffic offences’.
To do so, it had to specify the areas where the ANPR equipment would first be used. However, it is now free to install it in other locations without additional approval from Whitehall.
The cameras had been due to be turned on at the start of last year, but the scheme was delayed, as the Lancashire Post previously revealed.
The four junctions at which enforcement begins next week are:
***Charnley Street, Preston – the no entry restriction heading in the direction of Corporation Street, close to the underground entrance to the Fishergate car park;
***Ringway/Bow Lane traffic lights, Preston – the no right turn into Marsh Lane (for westbound Ringway traffic) and the no U-turn (in both directions);
***Morecambe Road/Aldi junction, Lancaster – the no right turn out of the supermarket’s access road onto the main road;
***Hyndburn Road/McDonald’s junction, Accrington – the no right turn into the Viaduct Retail Park from the main road.
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Councillor Warren Goldsworthy, cabinet member for Highways and Transport at Lancashire County Council said:
"The aim of this scheme is to improve road safety by deterring drivers from making these dangerous manoeuvres.
"Using new powers which target moving traffic offences, we will be stopping drivers from making illegal U-turns, going the wrong way up one-way streets and making prohibited manoeuvres.
"For the first six months, drivers will receive a warning letter for a first offence to let them know that they've made a potentially dangerous manoeuvre. People should already know the rules of the road, but this will help to educate anyone who isn't aware. After that, they will receive a fine."