‘Honeytrap’ road with ‘ridiculously’ unclear signs has caught almost 11,000 drivers – so would YOU spot the signs?

A MOTORIST is furious after becoming one of almost 11,000 drivers to be fined £130 for going down a restricted road in just one year.

Joe Hucklesby, 51, insisted the signs are unclear and accused cash-hungry council officials of setting a honeytrap. 

He said they are failing to adequately warn drivers that only bikes and buses can go through the road at certain times of the day.

Other motorists have previously moaned that the signs are too far back, meaning it is too late by the time they have seen the sign and registered the information.

Hackney Borough Council has fined 10,755 motorists on Lansdowne Drive in East London for this one particular breach in the year from July 2021, Freedom of Information figures show.

It means the authority raked in a minimum of £699,075.

But the actual sum is likely to be more because this figure presumes every motorist paid within two weeks, which comes with a reduced fee of £65.

And some 80 per cent of fines were given to drivers of cars registered outside of the borough, who are likely to be unfamiliar with the roads.

Joe, who has paid the lower charge, blasted: “That’s 29 people a day breaking that restriction. If they’re making as much money as that, the signage can’t be good enough. It can’t be adequate. 

“It’s not deterring people from driving down the road, therefore the signage cannot be good enough.

"I’ve paid for a fine that’s not reasonable. It’s a lot of money for them to make. It’s a lot of money out of people unreasonably.

"Clearly there’s a problem because there are more people getting caught out than should be. 

"They are making a lot of money from poor signage. Whether they are doing that on purpose I don’t know.

"I suspect they're not disappointed to make hundreds of thousands in fines from just one junction alone.