A crossroads in Surbiton is proving a cash cow for the council as umpteen motorists are ticketed in the stop-start, roadworks-jinxed Ewell Road.
The yellow box junction at the Elgar Avenue lights is a champion income generator, pumping tens of thousands of pounds into the local authority’s coffers.

From January to the end of September it pulled in more than £50,000 in fines from drivers who stopped on the hatching, a freedom of information request reveals.

In three years the council has collected nearly £3m in fines from its box junctions around the borough.

The eastbound yellow box at the Elgar/Princes intersection (from Surbiton towards Tolworth Tower) saw 1,704 fines issued in 2016, 4,371 in 2017, 732 in 2018 – drivers learning to be wary – and 661 this year. Heading west, with traffic flowing more freely, there were 610 fines in 2016, 196 in 2017, and 151 in 2018.

At £130 a pop (halved if paid promptly) the Ewell Road yellow box junctions raised £353,123 in fines in 2016, £119,510 in 2017, and £55,025 last year as drivers wised up. This year, to September 30, Ewell Road’s yellow boxes have generated £53,505 in fines.