Traffic cameras to stop illegal drivers on Northampton's Drapery have been four years coming

The cameras have been promised since 2016, and even after being agreed it has taken a year for them to come through
By Alastair Ulke
Published 18th Jan 2021, 11:27 BST
Updated 18th Jan 2021, 11:30 BST
ANPR cameras have been rolled out on the Drapery after being promised for more than four years.ANPR cameras have been rolled out on the Drapery after being promised for more than four years.
ANPR cameras have been rolled out on the Drapery after being promised for more than four years.

A bank of traffic cameras that will penalize drivers who misuse Northampton town centre's bus lane on the Drapery have been in the pipeline for more than four years.

After first being pitched in 2016, the ANPR cameras are set to came online this week before enforcement begins on February 1.

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Despite the scheme being recommended by the county council and repeatedly finding its way into the headlines, the cameras have finally been delivered.

The cameras received cabinet approval in 2019 in December 2019 after being signed off in August that year - but the concept has been floating in cabinet and council meetings since 2016.#

Even after approval was granted and installation was set for January 2019, they were then reportedly delayed a full year because of challenges surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

It comes after a survey found over 3,000 cars illegally shortcut through the Drapery every week.

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Former chairman of the county council's transport scrutiny committee Winston Strachan said: "It's been a long road to get here. We have been pushing for this since 2016 at least.

"I'm all for it. I'm afraid there are too many people in Northampton who know the town and cross the Drapery, and if there isn't a police officer there at that moment then nothing gets done about it."

Enforcement starts on February 1 - but during January, warning notices will be issued to those who flout the rules to act as a warning.

A spokesperson for the county council confirmed the cameras have not been paid for using the emergency active travel fund, a Government scheme to make travel safer in a post-Covid world.