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C-charge blunder as drivers are wrongly fined
By David Williams, Evening Standard, Motoring Editor Last updated at 00:00am on 13.05.05Thousands of drivers have been fined £100 for following official diversion signs while Tower Bridge was closed.
The signs directed them inside the congestion charge zone as the bridge was being repaired. Officials promised no one would have to pay the £5 toll and that if drivers stuck to the route they would not be fined.
But a blazing row erupted as it emerged contractor Capita forgot to turn off three key CCTV enforcement cameras along the diversion route. It "caught" and fined 2,663 innocent drivers before the fiasco came to light.
Today embarrassed Capita officials were rushing out letters of apology to every motorist who was wrongly penalised. The firm itself faces a huge fine for the blunder.
Mayor Ken Livingstone was said to be "livid" after the fiasco came to light when hundreds of angry motorists bombarded Transport for London with complaints.
A TfL insider told the Standard: "We're furious. We find it hard to
believe that Capita managed to get it so badly wrong after all the publicity surrounding this diversion."
Before the 30 April closure, motoring organisations predicted it would cause problems.
The RAC Foundation earned a rebuke from TfL officials for suggesting it could go wrong - and warning that "to penalise people for straying is not going to go down at all well".
Today foundation director Edmund King said: "This beggars belief. If Capita can't handle a pre-planned diversion, no wonder they get so much else wrong. We hate to say we told you so, but - we told you so."
An internal TfL investigation found Capita left cameras running at Druid Street, Fair Street and Tooley Street during the diversion, which directed traffic over London and Southwark bridges.
Today TfL personnel were hastily trying to ensure no further fines are issued in error.
One motorist who was caught out, Queen Mary University lecturer Mike Davies, said: "I knew I'd stuck to the route and was fed up when I received the £100 fine. I was even more fed up when I phoned to tell them what had happened.
"They initially refused to listen. They told me that if I did not pay I would have to face the bailiffs."
Roza Gold, of North Chingford, also wrongly fined, said: "If I had deliberately gone into the zone I would have paid. I am now waiting for their letter of apology."
Capita's five-year contract to administer the zone's payments and penalty fines is worth £280million, and it has secured £38million to run the western extension for two years.
But the firm has already been fined £3.7million by TfL for failing to hit performance targets.
