Thousands of fines issued to Reading drivers caught by CCTV car

A car which is being used to punish drivers for breaking rules has been responsible for dishing out thousands of fines in Reading over the last year.

The Peugeot car, which can often be seen patrolling Reading, has a CCTV camera on its roof with number plate recognition to detect rule breaches.

Once a breach is identified, the owner of the offending vehicle will be fined.

The car is called an "approved device", and can only be used to enforce stopping on the town's red route, stopping at bus stops and stopping at "school, keep clear" markings.

A total of 12,083 PCNs (penalty charge notice) were dished out to drivers in 2021/22 according to Reading Borough Council's annual Parking Services Report.

That's more than three times the number of PCNs that were issued in 2020/21, the previous year.

Of the 2021/22 total, 11,332 were issued for drivers stopping the red route, a large majority of which were issued on Oxford Road.

Not all of the fines issued were paid, and not all PCNs enforcing the red route were issued by the enforcement car either - 838 fines were issued directly by the council's army of parking enforcement officers.

The total PCNs issued for drivers stopping along the red route was 12,170.

The CCTV car was also used to issue 496 fines to drivers who stopped at bus stops and stands, and 255 for those who stopped at "School Keep Clear."

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