A London woman has successfully overturned a £160 yellow box junction fine after an independent adjudicator ruled the box was not legally compliant. The case has also revealed that Greenwich Council issued nearly £750,000 in fines at the same junction over five years.
Appeal Against Plumstead High Street Fine
The woman appealed to an independent adjudicator, who ruled that the yellow box on Plumstead High Street 'is not substantially compliant with the legislative procedures'. The box is located at the junction of Plumstead High Street and Garibaldi Street.
The woman, who had stopped in the box for three seconds, sought help from Sam Wright, a traffic campaigner known as the 'Yellow Box Guru'. After Greenwich Council rejected her initial appeal, she and Wright brought the case to London Tribunals.
Council's Defence and Ruling
Greenwich Council argued that the carriageway was being kept clear by the junction to help emergency services respond to incidents more quickly. However, the independent body that deals with yellow box Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) said video footage showed the box extends beyond the junction, the car stopped in the section beyond the far end of the junction, and 'the box junction is not substantially compliant with the legislative procedures'.
According to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, box junctions can be placed 'at a junction between two or more roads', at roundabouts, and on stretches of road adjacent to emergency service entrances. London Tribunals ruled that the yellow box at Plumstead High Street's junction with Garibaldi Street is bigger than is needed or legally warranted.
FOI Reveals Fine Totals
Following the ruling, Sam sent a Freedom of Information request to Greenwich Council asking how much money the yellow box had generated in fines since enforcement began. He was informed that 11,950 PCNs were issued at a total monetary value of £741,461 between September 7, 2021 and September 30, 2026.
Drivers caught on camera entering and stopping in a yellow box can be fined £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days. Sam criticised the council for causing 'such stress for minor victimless nonsense' and said he has been 'on a mission to try and make sure they are ethically designed and enforced'. He added: "It really irks me when I see a box which is too big and is being kept for no good traffic engineering reason. They're just being kept for the money."
