Revealed: The UK’s ‘most lucrative’ double-box junction that costs drivers £1,800 a day even for split-second moments – and has raked in £450,000 for council chiefs in just eight months

Britain’s ‘most lucrative’ double-box junction generates more than £1,800 a day from stranded motorists.

In the first eight months of this year, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames issued 6,568 penalty charge notices (PCNs) for the junction.

An average of 27 tickets are issued a day at the intersection on Kingston Road, which consists of two yellow boxes.

Overall, it cost drivers a total of £451,405 in PCNs between January and August this year, according to a Freedom of Information Act investigation.

Roland Head, 75, who has run The Real Butchers next to the junction for 42 years, described it as a ‘cash cow’.

‘This is not about traffic control,’ he said.

‘Local government won’t change anything because it makes them money,’ he said.

The two yellow boxes between Elm Road and Westbury Road have been in effect since 2015, but penalties were not imposed until five years later.

The intersection on Kingston Road (pictured), consisting of two yellow boxes, causes an average of 27 tickets a day

Overall, it cost drivers a total of £451,405 in PCNs between January and August this year, according to a Freedom of Information Act investigation. Pictured: Junction

The city added a barrier in front of Real Butchers to prevent drivers from stepping onto the sidewalk to avoid fines.

The Highway Code states that drivers should not enter the yellow box until they can pass through it without having to stop.

However, many people believe that fines may be unfair because people may have to stop unexpectedly because someone else is driving.

The new Malden ambulance depot is located less than a half-mile from the intersection; Here ambulances regularly get stuck behind cars that don’t want to enter the yellow box for fear of being fined.

Yellow ‘cross’ boxes are designed to keep traffic flowing at busy junctions; Drivers are not allowed into a box unless the exit is clear and there is enough room to clear the box without stopping inside the yellow lines.

The fine for stopping at a yellow-box junction is £160 in all London boroughs, but reduces to £80 if paid within the first 14 days.

Outside London £70 reduced to £35.

There is no fixed minimum time a car must be stopped in the yellow box to be issued a PCN.

The council told Times All money raised from fines will be used for basic traffic and parking management, as well as other priority transportation-related initiatives.

A Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames council spokesman said: ‘These two yellow box junctions exist to provide a clear view of pedestrians and cyclists to motorists turning directly onto Elm Road, to prevent traffic from blocking each junction and to allow vehicles to enter and exit side roads, improving the safety of all road and pavement users.’

The council also disputes the claim that the junction has the highest income in the UK, saying it is two boxes rather than one.

Between 2022 and 2024, the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in London for ‘moving traffic offences’, which includes yellow boxes as well as other infringements, increased by 8.5 per cent to 3.45 million, or one for every three residents.

London and Cardiff were the only areas in the UK where drivers could be fined for yellow box breaches until the government introduced new legislation in 2022 that will allow all councils across England to apply for enforcement powers.

Data provided by English councils in response to RAC FoI requests showed that only 36 yellow boxes were mandated outside London and Cardiff last year.

However, these locations triggered 32,748 PCNs.

Roland Head, 75, who has run The Real Butchers next to the junction for 42 years, described it as a ‘cash cow’. Picture: Cameras near the intersection

The two yellow boxes between Elm Road and Westbury Road (pictured) have been in place since 2015, but penalties were not imposed until five years later

The new Malden ambulance depot is located less than a half-mile from the intersection (pictured); Here ambulances regularly get stuck behind cars and do not want to enter the yellow box for fear of being fined.

The council said all money raised from fines was used for basic traffic and parking management, as well as other priority transport-related initiatives. Image: File photo of the intersection

Drivers should not enter the yellow box until they can pass through it without having to stop; However, many people believe that penalties may be unfair because people may have to stop at the box unexpectedly because someone else is driving. Image: File photo of the intersection

The fine for stopping at a yellow-box junction is £160 in all London boroughs, but reduces to £80 if paid within the first 14 days. Pictured: Kingston Road junction

RAC analysis found Manchester City Council issued the most box junction-related PCNs with 13,130 for the six box junctions on its network.

This brought in £446,706, almost half the revenues associated with the yellow box outside London and Cardiff.

Kent Medway Council raised the second highest amount of £145,162 after distributing 4,433 PCN for the five yellow bins it mandated.

It was followed by Buckinghamshire Council, which received £139,798 for 3,618 fines.

At the other end of the scale, Gloucestershire County Council raised £945 by issuing just 30 yellow boxed PCNs; Leeds City Council issued 50 fines, resulting in the payment of £605.

Drivers appeal only a small proportion of yellow box fines, but the rate of upheld initiatives can be as high as 87 per cent in the case of Medway Council.

Rod Dennis, the RAC’s senior policy officer, said the yellow box, which resulted in a small number of fines, showed it was “working as it should” and should be a target for councils rather than using them as a “revenue-raising opportunity”.

He said: ‘Very few people have deliberately broken the rules and been fined.

‘The fact that large numbers of fines are distributed to a small number of places and within a short period of time should cause alarm bells to ring in council offices.

‘It is vital that box joints are used in the right places and only as large as absolutely necessary.

‘They need to be set up fairly so that drivers do not find themselves stranded through no fault of their own.’

Chartered engineer Sam Wright was commissioned by the RAC to analyze the 100 boxes responsible for generating the most fines in London and Cardiff in 2019.

A report published last year found 98 were larger than required for their role in preventing queuing vehicles from obstructing crossing traffic.

The average box was 50 percent larger than needed, according to the study.