Redbridge Council earned a record-breaking £4.7million last year fining drivers who broke traffic laws.

Since Redbridge began operating traffic enforcement cameras in 2009, lawbreaking drivers have paid a total of 644,000 fines, earning the council more than £36m.

Income from fines has been more than £3m a year since 2016 and reached a new record of £4.7million in 2021.

The figures have been revealed via a Freedom of Information request for a list of all 171 of its enforcement cameras and how much each one has earned by fining drivers.

The traffic offences – which are £130 each but discounted to £65 if paid within 14 days – include stopping in box junctions or driving through a restricted area at certain times of the day.

A Redbridge Council spokesperson said any “surplus” money it receives through fines is “strictly ring-fenced” for highways and transport projects that improve safer travel for residents.

They added: “These include our road resurfacing programme, concessionary fares, road repairs, and other elements of the highways and active travel programme.”

These figures do not include police-operated cameras which enforce speed limits and stopping at traffic lights.

The borough’s top-earning camera last year made £668,315 by catching drivers who stop in the box junction outside Redbridge underground station in Redbridge Lane East.

When the camera was installed in 2018 a council spokesperson said it was to “keep traffic flowing” next to the busy junction and argued it had “no financial motivation”.

The next highest earning camera, trained on the box junction outside Waitrose in High Road, South Woodford, made £219,484 last year.

Drivers who fail to notice a sign warning that only bicycles and buses are allowed to use part of Clements Road, Ilford, paid out a total of £214,000 last year.

A School Streets restriction around Fairlop Primary School, Colvin Gardens, installed in 2020, means that drivers who entered the road from 8.45am to 9:20am or 3pm to 3.50pm paid a total of £183,000 in fines last year.

Redbridge Council now operates six School Streets schemes, which aim to improve safety around schools, reduce air pollution and encourage families to walk to school.

In July, a public consultation closed for five more proposed schemes around Farnham Green Primary School, Glade Primary School, Highlands Primary School, Manford Primary School and Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Primary School.