London council to start issuing £130 speeding fines in 20mph zones

The scheme could be rolled out across London if successful

The pilot scheme will launch in Wandsworth next week (Getty Images)

A London council will become the first local authority in the country to hand out fines to drivers exceeding 20mph speed limits.

Wandsworth Council is launching the pilot scheme next week for up to eight months, where £130 fines can be issued to speeding motorists.

If successful, the scheme could be rolled out across London where nearly half of the roads have a 20mph limit — including all roads within the central London congestion charge zone, and is seen as a “default” legal maximum in the majority of the 33 boroughs.

Drivers will not have three points added to their license or have to attend a speed awareness course.

The council is targeting two residential roads where residents complain about drivers going above the speed limit — Priory Lane in Roehampton and Wimbledon Park Road.

Priory Lane is a popular route among cyclists riding between Roehampton and Richmond Park, while Wimbledon Park Road leads to the world-famous tennis grounds.

Traffic studies have shown that one in four drivers break the speed limit on Priory Lane, and one in five on Wimbledon Park Road.

Wandsworth’s Labour leader Simon Hogg told the Evening Standard: “Speeding traffic is one of the biggest sources of complaints we receive.

“Ensuring drivers stick to the 20mph limit not only improves pedestrian safety levels and encourages more people to walk or cycle, it helps reduce harmful emissions too.”

Drivers will see their fines drop from £130 to £65 if they pay them within a fortnight, after they have received an initial warning letter — this will come into action several weeks after the scheme launches.

Transport for London announced that more than 17 miles of roads in Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Haringey would have the same speed limit by March 2023.

The council shared that the money from the speeding tickets would be used to fund road safety initiatives in the borough — which will contribute to London mayor Sadiq Khan’s “vision zero” target of no deaths or serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.

Councils are already able to fine drivers for driving in bus lanes, making banned turns, breaching low traffic neighbourhoods and stopping in yellow box junctions.