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Enforcement of “No Motor Vehicles” via Op SNAP

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  • April 2, 2026 at 7:41 pm #1287307
    mattw

    I have a notion, but I need a sanity check.

    I live on a weaving lane near a town centre which is about 4-5m wide between hedges / walls, with houses along both sides. It is an ancient lane subsumed into town, and is 500m long. It has had “No Motor Vehicles” (low flying motorbike with “Except for Access” text panels) signs at both ends since at least the 1970s and is STILL used as a rat run, including by many transits / taxis and general people avoiding a detour and a right turn at traffic lights.

    It is a popular pedestrian, some cycling and especially dog-walking route – more than 100 people walking dogs every day, and when I went out of my gate this morning there were 4 dogwalkers on parade, and two groups with small – primary age – children on kick-scooters.

    This evening I followed a tradesman’s van which drove up the lane at just under 30mph (which is teh speed limit).

    My local Op SNAP says they enforce on “contravention of road signs”.

    So does that mean that if I happen to come in behind a vehicle which starts at one end and goes straight through, and submit a video showing the complete journey including the signs at both ends (far end in the rear dashcam view), action will follow? The elements of the contravention are entering and leaving the zone without stopping.

    Has anyone succeeded in this type of report? I think I see 2 or 3 a week which I could film just whilst I’m doing my normal car journeys.

    I can see a potential problem in that can I (as a resident) drive straight through filming whulst fulfilling the “Access” condition?

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  • April 16, 2026 at 8:43 am #1362769
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    Benthic

    “Has anyone succeeded in this type of report?”

    Yes. But very short. https://maps.app.goo.gl/2eU4KwfNk2ymELi96

    April 9, 2026 at 4:18 pm #1328251
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    quiff

    I couldn’t keep pace at 25 – 30 either, but I would have thought over that distance they would still be visible on camera for the length of the lane, sufficient to demonstrate they were not using it for access. Filming it in the car may lead to a “we may also act on offences committed by the submitter” response.

    April 4, 2026 at 11:05 am #1300735
    3
    wtjs

    The problem is that the police/ OpSnap refusing to enforce red traffic lights/ mobile phone/ MOT/ other blatant offences is not news but routine police practice – goodness knows I’ve shown enough indisputable video evidence on here of police condoning even repeat and persistent offending

    April 4, 2026 at 9:03 am #1300733
    1
    mattw

    I won’t be able to do it on a cycle – 500m at potentially 25-30mph is not in my realistic compass, especially on a narrow lane with dozens and dozens of potholes. And those are the ones I need to catch most.

    I’d be more inclined to try it without driving out at the other end.

    I think that a fairly bullet proof defence is “I live at X address and entered the lane with the intention of going home.”

    Or I could email the scheme and ask for a comment, but I suspect I would get a salad of noncommittal politician words in response. I’d rather try it and see.

    April 4, 2026 at 8:19 am #1300731
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    mattw

    I won’t be able to do it on a cycle – 500m at potentially 25-30mph is not in my realistic compass, especially on a narrow lane with dozens and dozens of potholes. And those are the ones I need to catch most.

    I’d be more inclined to try it without driving out at the other end.

    I think that a fairly bullet proof defence is “I live at X address and entered the lane with the intention of going home.”

    Or I could email the scheme and ask for a comment, but I suspect I would get a salad of noncommittal politician words in response. I’d rather try it and see.

    April 2, 2026 at 10:19 pm #1287541
    2
    HoarseMann

    I have wondered about this myself. There’s a similar rat-run near me – it’s a village that’s been bypassed. There’s often a queue on the bypass at rush hour, but you get drivers speeding through the village in order to jump the queue; contravening the ‘no motor vehicle except for access’ signs.

    When the restriction was first imposed, I saw the police had a road block around the corner and were stopping drivers, but only seemed to be offering ‘words of advice’. I’ve seen no enforcement for years. But unless the council have applied to enforce this ‘moving traffic violation’ then it is still the police who prosecute.

    I would give it a go, but only on the bicycle. If you drive all the way through – even though you are a resident, you will also fall foul of the restriction. It’s not ‘residents only’ it’s ‘access only’. If the purpose of your journey didn’t require access, then even as a resident, you shouldn’t be driving down there.

    side note:
    My parents used to have a holiday house on a very narrow ‘access only’ lane. It was regularly ignored. Even had an HGV get stuck and knock down their dry-stone wall. Also, some idiot when it had snowed heavily, I had spent 2 hours clearing snow off the lane, from the main road up to the house, but not beyond it – where it gets really steep. Anyway, at nearly 11pm at night, some numpty in a ‘4×4’ decides they want a challenge and drives past the house, up the steep bit that hadn’t been cleared, slid back down and got wedged sideways between the walls on either side of the narrow single track lane. Lol! Thankfully, more damage to their car than the walls. Took them 45mins to get it free.

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