A council has been accused of issuing too many fines for drivers in yellow boxes, after handing out the second highest number in the whole country.

According to the RAC, Medway Council issued 4,433 penalty charge notices across five locations last year - an average of 13 a day.

This amounts to £145,162 in the first year the Towns’ authority was able to use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce the yellow boxes.

Only Manchester City Council issued more fines than the Towns’ authority in 2024, giving out 13,130 penalty charge notices (PCNs).

But the RAC has suggested this might mean the yellow boxes are not placed correctly and drivers are being caught out more than the measures are actually improving traffic flow.

In May 2022, the government allowed authorities other than those in London and Cardiff to enforce yellow boxes and other moving traffic offences.

Medway Council gained the ability to enforce the rules around yellow boxes, no right turns, and others in July 2023 and has since installed ANPR cameras in 25 locations.

New cameras were installed in January this year, bringing the total number enforcing yellow boxes to 14 - only five were in operation in 2024.

The average number of PCNs issued for each of the five yellow boxes in Medway was 887.

The location where the most motorists broke the rules and were issued fines was in Gillingham, at the junction between the A2 Rainham Road and Ash Tree Lane and Canterbury Street.

The RAC submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to 27 authorities which applied to gain the power to enforce moving traffic offences.

Manchester City Council issued an average of 2,188 PCNs across six yellow boxes, the most across the UK.

Medway Council issued the second most, and Buckinghamshire Council handed out 3,618 across four yellow boxes.

The RAC believes there may be problems with the way some of the yellow boxes are placed and designed as a handful of authorities represent the vast majority of PCNs.

It says some authorities which have the power to enforce the rules are issuing relatively few fines, suggesting the measure in those areas is achieving the goal of improving traffic flow and reducing congestion.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “Yellow boxes serve an important purpose in keeping traffic flowing at busy junctions.

“But with councils outside London and Cardiff enforcing them for the first time, it’s now more important than ever that they do everything they can to ensure drivers don’t get unfairly caught out.

“After all, very few people set out to deliberately flout the rules and get fined.

“The enormously high number of penalty charge notices being raised in just a few council areas suggests things are awry.

“The large number of penalties being dished out over a small number of locations and in a short space of time should send alarm bells ringing in council offices.

“A small number of fines - and a small number of appeals - indicates a yellow box that’s working as it should.

“This should be the ambition behind any yellow box that a council is looking to start enforcing, rather than being seen as a revenue-raising opportunity.”

Cllr Alex Paterson (Lab), Medway Council’s portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, said: “As a motorist, there’s nothing more frustrating than seeing selfish drivers get away with breaking rules the rest of us follow - particularly when those offences contribute to traffic congestion and danger for other road users, including pedestrians.

“That’s why I’m pleased that we have been granted these powers to enforce existing rules, stand up for the law-abiding majority and help to keep Medway moving.

“This is not a trick and it is not about catching people out - these are the same rules which were in the Highway Code when I passed my driving test more than 30 years ago - and these are just the same box junctions and illegal turns which the rest of us have observed for years without the need for cameras or the risk of a fine to encourage compliance.

“In addition, road markings at these locations have been updated to ensure nobody could reasonably claim not to have seen them, and we have even issued warning notices instead of fines for first-time offences during a six-month grace period.

“All subsequent fines are entirely optional. If you follow the rules then you don’t pay a penny.”