New camera to catch rule-breaking drivers at Lancaster supermarket will be switched on soon

Lancashire County Council says it will activate the camera at the Morecambe Road and Aldi junction early next year.

Road signage for motorists leaving the Aldi supermarket slip road onto Lancaster Road dictates that drivers cannot turn right and head into Lancaster.

"We receive regular complaints about traffic turning right out of the junction,” said a county council spokesman, speaking in 2022.

“This requires vehicles to come into conflict with traffic that may be queuing to enter the junction on the right turn lane.

"The junction has been designed to encourage the left turn only and abuse increases the risk of accidents on this busy stretch of road.

“The junction has had three accidents in the last five years."

The council applied for permission to fine motorists committing offences like breaching turning restrictions and going the wrong way up one-way streets, under new powers offered to local authorities by the last government.

The Department for Transport approved County Hall’s bid to take on enforcement of so-called “moving traffic” violations in early 2023.

Highways bosses planned to start making use of them at four locations in the county – including at the Morecambe Road Aldi, two sites in Preston and one in Accrington – that summer.

Roads bosses selected junctions at which the rules were being regularly and flagrantly flouted by drivers looking for shortcuts – and where accidents had been reported in recent years:

However, a delay in acquiring the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras required to capture the motoring misdemeanours means not a single fine has yet been handed out – but the county council says that it is now poised to switch on the kit which were previously estimated to cost up to £25,000 each.

The county council has previously pledged to offer a six-month grace period to first-time offenders before it routinely begins to issue fines to drivers caught disregarding the prohibition signs at the selected junctions.

Once penalty charge notices are handed out, they will be levied at £70, with a discount to £35 for payment within 21 days. The income generated will be used for road improvements across the county.

County Coun Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for highways and transport at Lancashire County Council, said: “We are planning to use powers granted to local authorities to enforce certain moving traffic offences and have previously consulted on plans to enforce these at four locations.

“The enforcement of the four initial locations was expected to start around the summer of 2023. However, the procurement process for the cameras took longer than anticipated.

“As we approached the Christmas period, we were in a position to begin enforcing these powers at these four locations. However, we decided to delay this until the new year.

“We now plan to begin enforcement in early 2025 and signage will be clearly displayed to inform drivers.”