Bus lanes, box junctions and banned turns: appealing a moving traffic PCN
Councils outside London can now enforce box junctions, no-entry and banned turns by camera: who has the powers, the 6-month warning rule and how to appeal.
If you have had a Penalty Charge Notice for a yellow box junction, a banned turn, driving through a "no entry" or a bus gate, you have run into moving traffic enforcement - one of the fastest-growing kinds of PCN in England. Until 2022, only London boroughs and a few designated Welsh councils could enforce these by camera. That changed in 2022, and a lot of drivers are getting caught by junctions they did not know were enforced.
The new powers, in plain terms
Under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, the government began allowing councils in England outside London to apply for powers to enforce moving traffic contraventions by camera. The first authorities went live in 2022, and more have joined since. Key points:
- Camera-only. These PCNs are issued purely on camera and recording evidence - there is no officer at the scene.
- What's covered: box junctions, banned/prohibited turns, no entry, one-way streets, bus gates and bus lanes, and similar restricted movements.
- Where it applies: London already had these powers, as did Welsh councils designated by the Welsh Government - Cardiff since 2014, Carmarthenshire since 2018 and Merthyr Tydfil since 2025. The 2022 rollout extended them across England, council by council.
Who has the powers now
In England a council has to apply, and the government then grants the powers by a designation order. New orders have come roughly once a year since 2022. The most recent, SI 2025/1181, took effect on 9 December 2025 and added Brighton & Hove, Calderdale, Cornwall, Dorset, Kirklees, Knowsley, Milton Keynes and Slough.
Councils that already have the powers keep adding cameras, too. Manchester, which has enforced some box junctions by camera since November 2023, added a second batch of sites in January 2026. Solihull started enforcing a banned U-turn on the A34 Stratford Road at Richard Lewis Way from 1 June 2026. If a junction near you has new cameras, assume it may be enforced.
The six-month warning rule most people don't know about
This is the most useful fact for a recent ticket. The Department for Transport's statutory guidance for councils outside London says that for the first six months of enforcement at each camera location - including any new camera added later - councils should issue a warning notice, not a PCN, for a first-time contravention. It is guidance rather than a regulation, but councils must have regard to it. Solihull, for example, says first-time offenders at its new U-turn camera get a written warning during the first six months. So:
- If you were caught at a newly enforced junction, check whether the camera was within its first six months of operation - you may have been entitled to a warning, not a charge Our warning notice checker works out the dates for you.
- Even outside that window, many authorities issue a warning for a driver's genuine first contravention. It is always worth asking.
The box-junction rule that wins appeals
Yellow box junctions have a specific legal test that is widely misunderstood. You are only in contravention if you enter the box when your exit is not clear. Crucially:
- You may enter a box junction to turn right and wait, if you are prevented from completing the turn only by oncoming traffic (or other vehicles already waiting to turn right).
- So if the footage shows you stopped while turning right, blocked by oncoming traffic, that is not a contravention - and is a strong ground of appeal.
Ask the council for the video evidence (you are entitled to see it) and check exactly why you stopped.
How to appeal a moving traffic PCN
Outside London, a moving traffic PCN is sent by post, and the route is shorter than for a parking ticket left on the car:
1. Don't pay on reflex - but note the discount. A PCN sent by post on camera evidence can be paid at 50% within 21 days of being served, not the 14 days that applies to a ticket on the windscreen. The free PCN discount & deadline calculator works out your dates.
2. Get the footage and check the contravention genuinely occurred - unclear signage, a hidden or faded "no entry", or the box-junction exception are common winners.
3. Make formal representations to the council within 28 days of the PCN being served. A camera PCN is itself the formal notice, so there is no separate Notice to Owner stage. If the council rejects your representations, appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (or London Tribunals in London) - the same independent adjudicators who hear parking cases.
For the specific codes, see our guides to PCN code 31 - entering a box junction and PCN code 34 - being in a bus lane.