Sefton Council says early camera data shows drivers ignoring the Queens Road restriction, and it has no approval for camera enforcement at that junction.
Sefton Council has confirmed in writing that drivers are ignoring the traffic restriction on Queens Road in Southport, and that it cannot use cameras to stop them there.
The admission is in the council’s published answer to a public question put to the full Council meeting on 17 September 2026. Asked what action was being taken at the Queens Road junction with Manchester Road and Hoghton Street, the council replied:
“Whilst the data is still being assessed, early indications do show non-compliance by motorists.”
That is the council’s own monitoring, not a complaint. It says it has reviewed the restriction with a traffic survey camera on the Queens Road junction itself, and that it runs a continuous Vivacity sensor counting traffic, pedestrians and cyclists on Queens Road near the Hawkshead Street junction (Sefton Council, public questions and answers, 17 September 2026).
Why the council cannot put a camera there
Sefton does hold civil enforcement powers for moving traffic offences, which is what would allow a penalty notice to be posted to a driver who passes a no entry sign. The limit is where it can use them. The council’s answer says:
“We currently only have approval for four sites in the Borough which doesn’t include this location.”
It says trials have been run at the approved sites, costs have recently come in, and those are being reviewed “with the intention of a business case being developed to proceed”. Any additional site would first have to go through a consultation process under the moving traffic enforcement regulations.
The council has not published which four sites hold approval. When it consulted on taking the powers, between 14 August and 25 September 2023, it named three locations it was minded to include:
- Hastings Road, for the school street at Greenbank High School
- Windy Harbour Road, for the school street at Birkdale High School
- Stanley Road in Bootle, the pedestrian zone by the Strand
(Sefton Council moving traffic offences consultation FAQ)
So the sites Sefton went for first were school gates and a shopping street, not the town centre active travel route.
What is left: the police, occasionally
With no camera, enforcement falls to Merseyside Police. The council’s answer is blunt about what that is worth:
“The Police can be asked to carry out enforcement of the restriction, which they have done occasionally, but they cannot be there permanently. We can encourage them to do so more frequently.”
The council says it has given Southport officers a copy of the Traffic Regulation Order behind the restriction, so they have the legal basis to act on, and that the matter continues to be raised through the Road Safety Partnership.
The safety case, and why junctions matter
Queens Road is the northern end of Southport’s North-South Active Travel Route, which runs from the Park Road junction through the town centre to the junction of Talbot Street and Aughton Road. It went in during 2020 under emergency government funding for pop-up routes during the pandemic, and the council has said that the speed required by government “prevented any meaningful consultation prior to implementation”.
The decision to keep it was taken by the Cabinet Member for Locality Services on 11 January 2024, called in by Cllrs Pugh, Shaw and Brodie-Browne, and upheld by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 19 February 2024 by 5 votes to 2.
The safety evidence put to that meeting is the reason the enforcement gap matters:
| Measure | Figure reported to scrutiny |
|---|---|
| Fall in injuries on Queens Road since the scheme | 75% |
| Fall in injuries on Hoghton Street since the scheme | 40% |
| Injured cyclists, three years before and after | 10, down to 3 |
| Pedestrian journeys counted | about 2.3 million |
| Cycling journeys counted | about 157,000 |
| Vehicle journeys counted | about 1 million |
Officers told the committee that the injuries which did still happen with the scheme in place “were all at junctions”, and that junctions would be the specific focus for further work (Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Regeneration and Skills, 19 February 2024).
The junction now reported as being driven through illegally is exactly that kind of location.
What the question asked, and what the answer did not cover
The resident who submitted the question also said vehicles were accelerating up Queens Road at speeds well above the 20mph limit, and asked what was being done with Merseyside Police to enforce it.
The council’s written answer does not address speed. It deals with compliance with the restriction, the enforcement powers, and police attendance. On the merits of the restriction itself, it says the Vivacity data shows the road is “calmer and more attractive for walking and cycling into the town centre”.
What it means for you
- If you drive, the restriction is backed by a Traffic Regulation Order and Merseyside Police can enforce it. The absence of a camera is not permission.
- If you walk or cycle here, the council accepts its own early data shows drivers coming through, and has no timetable for camera enforcement at this junction.
- If you want it enforced by camera, the council’s stated route is a business case first, then a consultation on any new site. Neither has been published.
- If you want to raise it, moving traffic enforcement sits with the council’s Transport Planning Team, and the restriction is also a standing item at the Road Safety Partnership.
- Live closures and diversions in the town are on our roadworks and travel page, and town centre charges are in our parking guide.
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