A SPY camera monitoring a Hampstead street has racked up more than £150,000 in traffic fines in just four months.
The recently installed CCTV camera in Perrins Lane has caught drivers making a banned right turn on 2,778 occasions since April.
Conservative politicians say the statistic proves that the Town Hall is making money out of cameras that were installed to beat crime. If all of the caught-out drivers paid the standard £50 fine then the council will have collected £138,900.
The camera has also snared drivers who park near a footway, zig-zag lines and temporarily restricted bus stops.
Tory councillors say residents campaigned to get the camera installed to beat rising crime in the area – not to pull up motorists on minor infringements.
Hampstead councillor Mike Greene said: “We worked really hard to get these cameras, primarily for community safety purposes but these figures are quite extraordinary.
“We sort of used the No Right Turn from Perrins Lane as an excuse to get the CCTV we needed in the High Street. But instead of using it for community safety, Camden seems to be milking it for all its worth. It will have pulled in over £100,000.”
The controversy comes on the heels of revelations in the New Journal last month that Camden has raked in around £2 million in the past 12 months from CCTV fines.
Labour’s deputy leader Councillor Theo Blackwell insisted yesterday (Wednesday) that the camera system was working well. He said: “Community safety is the number one priority for cameras. Since the introduction of cameras, they have led to 10 arrests and provided evidence in over 50 incidents ranging from burglaries to drunk and disorderly behaviour.”
Cllr Blackwell claimed the Conservatives had not considered the consequences of the cameras before they campaigned for them.
He added: “I’m sorry if there is not enough crime in Hampstead to pick up – but they are doing the job that residents asked for. Parking and road traffic offences were way down the list of priorities but the number of cars in Camden has increased three-fold in the last 15 years.”
A council press official said: “All CCTV cameras in Camden can be put to different uses, but their use for community safety and access by the police takes absolute precedence.”