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Speed camera fines drivers £350,000 in just three weeks as drivers cry 'scam'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:23 PM on 21st June 2009
Comments (35) Add to My Stories Motorists have been left furious after a council issued fines worth £350,000 in just three weeks after changing road-rules for a heavily used junction.
North London's Islington Council fined thousands of drivers in a matter of days after installing a CCTV camera to catch road users who were unaware of the new rules.

Previously it had been legal to turn into the tiny backstreet.
'Scam: John Marriott, a local pub landlord, holds the penalty changes he received after being seen on the CCTV camera on Henshall Street in Islington

Now angry road users - who say they only realised the rules had changed when they were sent fines in the post - are demanding the local authority cancel the penalties.
Publican John Marriott, 36, who runs nearby pub Perseverance, was so disgusted with the 'scam' he raced to the aid of unsuspecting drivers and alerted them to the danger.
He said: "I went down there to warn other motorists and turned away more than 30 cars in 20 minutes. I know one guy who has got 17 tickets. It's just a money-making exercise."

Islington Council claims it erected signs to warn motorists they were no longer allowed to turn into Henshall Street from Balls Pond Road on January 28, four months before starting to fine people. But motorists claim they never noticed the signs.
"There were signs there but they were hidden," said Mr Marriott.

"They were not visible at the point where drivers decided the make the turn. It's a busy road and if you've committed then you are more concerned about the traffic than some silly scam."

Between May 14 and June 5, the council caught 2,907 drivers making the illegal turn - equal to more than 120 people a day. It issued all offenders with £120 fines which they can half if they pay within 14 days.

Floor layer Colin Whitehead, 48, of Mitchison Road, Islington, said: "I didn't realise it was a banned turn until I got my first ticket and now I am expecting another nine. I have been driving down that road for 25 years."

Victims who have only just realised their actions will be penalised are nervously expecting penalty notices to flood in.

Kelly Best, a buyer for a jewellery company, has used the road for 10 years and expects seven more tickets on top of the two she has already been handed.
Islington Council refused to cancel all the tickets but agreed that drivers who made the blunder several times before receiving the first notice in the post will only be fined once.

Landlord Mr Marriott, who has started a petition against the action, received one fine and anticipates five more.
He said: "I am going to fight tooth and nail to cancel every fine. I'm pleased the council have dropped the majority but I don't see why we should have to pay even one based on the circumstances."

A council spokeswoman said: "Local residents complained that Henshall Street was being used as a rat run, with cars and motorbikes rushing through.

"The no-entry is part of a five-month-old 20mph zone, and makes the street safer for people who live there.

"Road safety schemes like this one save more than 100 people from death or serious injury every year in Islington."