Cameras to monitor motorists who flout Adderley Road and The Causeway box junction in Bishop's Stortford

Motorists who occupy a box junction in Bishop's Stortford town centre will be fined after Hertfordshire County Council decided to move forward with plans to ease congestion and improve safety.

The highways authority is to apply for legal powers for cameras to monitor motorists turning left or right out of Adderley Road into The Causeway for "moving traffic offences".

It will be the first location in Hertfordshire to be the subject of "unattended camera enforcement" under the powers.

But following a six-week public consultation last autumn, the council is dropping its proposal for cameras to enforce the Jackson Square car park exit onto Adderley Road.

A spokesman said: "The consultation identified a number of legitimate concerns about camera enforcement at the exit from the Jackson Square car park and as a result the county council has decided not to introduce camera enforcement at this location."

Now, the council will carry out detailed design works with the aim of installing the cameras later this year.

It has applied to the Department for Transport for new civil powers that are needed to use cameras to enforce contraventions such as entering yellow box junctions when the exit is not clear, driving through a 'No Entry' sign, turning left or right when instructed not to do so and using bus routes.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology will be used to issue penalty charge notices to motorists who break the law.

Cllr Phil Bibby, the council's executive member for highways and transport, said: “We’re grateful to all the people who responded to the consultation and we’ve listened to what they had to say.

"It’s clear that residents had real and reasonable concerns about introducing cameras at the Jackson Square car park exit and as a result we’re not going to go ahead with that.

“However, there was much more support for camera enforcement at the main junction and we now intend to move ahead with this and deliver a safer and less congested junction.”

The new powers are from Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, which allow local highway authorities outside London to use approved cameras to enforce moving traffic contraventions. Other locations will be consulted upon, including a bus gate in Hatfield and a weight restriction in Watford.

To find out more about the proposals for Adderley Road and to view the full response to the consultation, visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/cameraenforcement.