READING Borough Council is continuing its work rectifying erroneous Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) which saw motorists incorrectly issued with penalty charge notices.
It comes after the council discovered errors in five TROs which resulted in around 6,140 PCNs being incorrectly issued, primarily on the East Reading Red Route between July 2018 and 2024.
Errors were found on another four TROs which did not affect the validity of any PCNs issued.
A reimbursement scheme was launched in October last year and processes enacted to rectify the incorrect TROs.
An update report on both schemes is now set to be given to members of the Audit and Governance committee on Tuesday, January 21.
In light of the errors, the council contacted motorists who had been incorrectly referred to debt recovery, and nearly £45,000 was distributed to 63 individuals.
A publicity campaign was also launched to reach motorists who may have paid PCNs which were incorrectly issued to encourage them to make a claim for reimbursement.
A further 254 claims were accepted and paid through this system, resulting in a total reimbursement of £11,400.
The corrected order for East Reading Red Route is expected to be put in place later this month.
Statutory consultations on the remaining TROs are due to take place over the coming weeks, which, if agreed, will start leading enforcement of each TRO being issued warnings, rather than PCNs, for the first two-weeks in each case.
Jackie Yates, Chief Executive of Reading Borough Council, said:
“Every effort has been made to correct the regrettable situation which resulted in penalty charge notices being incorrectly issued.
“A campaign to reach out to motorist who may be eligible for reimbursement and a scheme to process claims and issue refunds was swiftly put in place.
“We are also progressing with correcting the Traffic Regulation Orders which were found to have irregularities.
“Any motorists who believe they have paid incorrectly issued penalty charge notices and have not yet acted, can still visit the Council website and follow the process for making a claim.”
The agenda for the meeting set for Tuesday, January 21, is available via: democracy.reading.gov.uk
Full details of the ongoing correction of the erroneous TRO enforcements be found at: reading.gov.uk/vehicles-roads-and-transport
