Leicester: Cameras to catch drivers who block busy junctions

The yellow box markings on Vaughan Way have been temporarily removed but will be renewed, the council said

Cameras are to be installed to catch drivers who stop in restricted parts of two busy junctions near St Margaret's Bus Station in Leicester.

The devices will enforce yellow box areas at the junctions of Abbey Street and Gravel Street, and Vaughan Way and Causeway Lane.

Motorists who stop in the yellow boxes will face £70 fines from this spring, Leicester City Council said.

The council hopes the cameras will cut traffic congestion in the area.

The authority said both junctions were regularly blocked by vehicles entering the boxes without being able to exit - disrupting bus services, blocking emergency vehicles and potentially causing gridlock.

It has been granted special permission from the Department of Transport to deal with so-called "moving traffic" offences.

The council wants to ease congestion near the St Margaret's Bus Station

Deputy city mayor Adam Clarke said: "These new 'London-style' camera-enforced yellow box junctions will be among the first outside the capital, where they have been used for many years to the benefit of all road users.

"We've looked closely at the road layouts at both sites, which are busy parts of the city centre road network.

"The yellow box junctions in place are there to stop motorists from entering the junction unless their exit is clear, as set out in the Highway Code.

"However, it doesn't take too many people ignoring that to cause significant traffic disruption, blocking access to and from the bus station and preventing emergency vehicles from getting through."

The council is renewing the yellow box markings at both junctions during overnight roadworks, which run until Sunday.