Thousands of drivers have been slapped with £70 fines after cameras were installed to enforce bus gates in a “rat run” road.

Parts of some roads in Ashford had already been out of bounds for drivers for years before the devices were switched on in September last year.

However, a history of motorists flouting the rules at Beaver Road, Carlton Road and Sackville Crescent led Kent County Council (KCC) to install ANPR cameras to catch drivers in September 2024.

Only public transport and taxis are allowed to go down the roads in question.

Cllr Paul Bartlett (Con) was chairman of the Ashford Joint Transportation Board when the ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras were brought in.

He said of the fines: “It was something that I supported greatly and I’m very pleased that it’s now in effect.”

Formerly, the gate was enforced by “a retractable bollard which went up and down when vehicles which were approved to use the route had a sensor on their dashboard,” Cllr Bartlett explained.

“It was creaky, it didn’t work very well at all.”

New data released by KCC shows thousands of drivers have been hit with the fines - the vast majority of which were in Beaver Road, both northbound and southbound.

The second area at the railway bridge connecting Sackville Crescent and Carlton Road accounts for far fewer of the fines.

More than 4,200 warnings have been issued since September, with more than 2,200 of those resulting in fines being issued.

The fines are £70, but are reduced to only £35 if the recipient pays within 14 days of receiving it.

Cllr Bartlett said: “People got used to using it as a rat run, so I am not surprised that it’s taking time for people to adjust their driving, and I think we’re likely to see a reduction in the number of fines over the next 12 months.

“But I’m generally very pleased because it has reduced the traffic on Bingham Road, Bond Road and Christchurch Road, which I think have benefited significantly from the enforcement.

“The reason it was put in many, many years ago is that a new road was put in down to the Outlet and it was designed to take traffic heading towards Kingsnorth away from a residential area.

“Beaver Road is very narrow and it’s not suitable for the volume of traffic going from Ashford down to Kingsnorth and it became a danger to pedestrians and cyclists and so on.”

There is another bus gate at Bluebell Road in the town, but this does not yet have CCTV cameras to enforce it, and council papers say the installation of those cameras is “on hold”.

Cllr Bartlett said he was “very disappointed” to see installation is not happening soon.

He added: “I get the point about the new administration [at KCC] wanting to review expenditure, but I think it would be a mistake for them not to put pedestrian safety as a priority.”

KCC has recently taken control of monitoring the bus gate cameras in Tunbridge Wells town centre, which has raked in almost £3 million in fines since launching.

The scheme has been controversial from the outset, with signage blasted as being unclear for drivers and motoring campaigners suggesting first-time offences should result in warning rather than a fine.

But the row has spilled over with residents saying the authority has “missed a trick” in failing to remove it and creating misery for residents.