Greenwich Council has been criticised for handing out nearly £750,000 in fines for infringements at a yellow box junction that extends beyond what is legally required.

One motorist managed to have her £160 fine overturned after she appealed to an independent adjudicator which ruled the yellow box on Plumstead High Street “is not substantially compliant with the legislative procedures”.

However, Greenwich Council said the junction was helping keep the carriageway clear so emergency services could respond to incidents more quickly.

Sam Wright, a traffic campaigner known as the ‘Yellow Box Guru’, helped the woman through a six-month appeal process and criticised the South London authority for putting drivers through “such stress for minor victimless nonsense”.

The yellow box in question is at the junction of Plumstead High Street and Garibaldi Street. Yellow boxes are traffic management tools designed to prevent gridlock and keep intersections, roundabouts, or emergency vehicle exits clear.

Londoners can be fined £160 (reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days) if they’re caught on camera entering and stopping in a yellow box.

Mr Wright was made aware of this particular Plumstead yellow box after the motorist contacted him asking for help. She had been fined by the council and wanted to overturn it as she had only stopped in the box for three seconds.

They contested the fine but Greenwich Council rejected the appeal. Sam and the woman then escalated her case to London Tribunals, an independent body that deals with yellow box Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).

The tribunal ruled that video evidence provided by them showed the box extends beyond the junction, the car stopped in the section beyond the far end of the junction, and “the box junction is not substantially compliant with the legislative procedures”.

The rules governing yellow box junctions are covered in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 2016. These regulations state that box junctions can be placed “at a junction between two or more roads” as well as at roundabouts and on stretches of road adjacent to emergency service entrances.

London Tribunals ruled the yellow box at Plumstead High Street’s junction with Garibaldi Street is bigger than is needed or legally warranted.

Following this ruling, Mr Wright sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Greenwich Council asking how much money the yellow box had generated in fines since enforcement began.

The council revealed that between September 7, 2021 and September 30, 2026, 11,950 PCNs were issued at a total monetary value of £741,461.

Mr Wright used to work as a traffic engineer for Transport for London (TfL) where he was responsible for designing and approving yellow boxes across the city. He said: “Since then I’ve been on a mission to try and make sure they are ethically designed and enforced.

“It really irks me when I see a box which is too big and is being kept for no good traffic engineering reason. They’re just being kept for the money.”

Speaking about this specific case, Mr Wright said: “It’s not just about the box length. It’s the fact that she stopped for three seconds. You’re giving tickets to people and it’s putting them through a lot of stress. It’s really horrible.”

He requested that councils introduce a minimum time of five to ten seconds before a charge can be issued, calling them out for being “overzealous” in their distribution of fines and reiterating his belief that the Plumstead High Street yellow box was purely a cash generator.

Greenwich Council denied this, saying “revenue was not a consideration” and the junction was there to keep the carriageway clear to help emergency services respond to incidents more quickly. There is both a police and fire station close to the Garibaldi Street junction.

Cllr Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Greenwich’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Climate Change, Waste and Streets, said: “Keeping this area clear is essential to helping emergency services get out quickly and respond to incidents without unnecessary delays.

“The fire service has contacted the council on several occasions about the importance of keeping junctions along this stretch of road unobstructed, and we are working to ensure their concerns are addressed regarding other junctions.

“Enforcement is about ensuring traffic flows safely and effectively for the benefit of all road users, including the emergency services, and revenue is not a consideration.”

Cllr O’Byrne Mulligan also acknowledged the individual case that was overturned and said that although the council “did not agree” with the reasoning of London Tribunal’s ruling, it decided not to contest the appeal.

He said: “The yellow box at this location has been upheld by many adjudicators. We take feedback and concerns about the design and operation of yellow box junctions seriously, and will review locations where there is evidence that changes may be needed.

“Our priority remains ensuring this busy stretch of Plumstead High Street operates safely and effectively, particularly given its importance to the emergency services.”