A CAMERA above a box junction in Walthamstow has become a “cash cow” for the council and private contractors after netting £85,500 from drivers in six months.

Over 2,000 penalty fines have been handed out to motorists for stopping in the yellow square on Hoe Street, to the left on Station Approach – and the camera was only installed in May.

Bert Schouwenburg who successfully appealed his fine got the figures from a Freedom of Information Act request, after questioning the positioning of the road markings.

He said: “The box junction isn’t at the top of Station Approach where it should be to stop the entrance being blocked, it is slightly to the left.

“From Station Approach you cannot see if the left hand lane is clear, until you turn the corner.

“As soon as you start turning the corner the lights on Hoe Street can change and you are forced to stop.

“They sent me a video in which I stopped in the junction for two seconds. The idea of these box junctions is to stop people breaking traffic regulations. This is not happening here.

“It is a cash cow.”

Walthamstow man Mr Schouwenburg, 61, submitted the FOI because he believed the volume of traffic, both sets of traffic lights and the positioning of the box make it almost impossible for drivers to avoid making the error.

On the say he was ticketed he could not see if the left hand lane was clear, so came out and moved over when he saw it was not when he got on to Hoe Street – meaning he spent two seconds in the box, trying to move over.

He said he got off on a ‘technicality’ but was still angered by the positioning of the box.

“I was just so surprised by the fine,” he said.

“I don’t see any legitimate reason for the box being where it is – it is an exercise to raise revenue.

“It should be at the top of the junction, surely.”

Only six appeals have been lodged against fines this year.