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Enforcement and fines
If you receive a fine, known as a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), for being in a bus lane or committing a moving traffic offence, you should not ignore it but should decide whether you are going to pay the fine or challenge it.
How to pay your fine
You can pay a fine (penalty charge) using our online payment portal below. To do this you will need to have the PCN number and your vehicle registration number and one of the following debit or credit cards - Mastercard, Visa, Switch or Delta.
Pay or challenge your fine online
Alternatively, you can pay over the phone, using our 24hr payment line, on 0330 175 5930. Again, you will need to have the PCN number, your vehicle registration number and one of the above-mentioned debit or credit cards.
Although we would encourage you to pay online or over the phone if possible, as these are more efficient and secure methods of payment, you can also pay by post using a cheque or postal order. To do this, please complete the slip attached to the bottom of the PCN and send it with your cheque or postal order, made payable to Surrey County Council, to Surrey County Council Parking, PO Box 355, Sheffield, S98 1ES. Please write the PCN number and your vehicle registration number on the back of the cheque or postal order and, if you would like a receipt, please also enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
How to challenge a fine
If you do not think you should have to pay the penalty charge, you can challenge it by making representations why you should not have to pay it online (or by post, quoting the PCN number, to: Surrey County Council Parking, PO Box 355, Sheffield, S98 1ES).
Pay or challenge your fine online
Your representations should explain why you think you should not have to pay the penalty charge and include any supporting evidence that you have.
If we accept your representations, we will cancel the PCN, and you will not have to pay the penalty charge. If we reject your representations, you may submit an appeal against that decision to an independent adjudicator. Details of how to do this will be supplied with the notice of rejection of your representations.
For queries about a fine, for example if you have lost the penalty charge notice or you are having a problem using the payment system, call our helpline on 0330 175 5930, where someone should be able to help you.
What happens next
If any of the following circumstances apply,
- the penalty charge was not paid and no representations were received within 28 days of the date on which the PCN was served
- representations were made and rejected and no payment was received, and no appeal was submitted to the adjudicator within 28 days
- an appeal was submitted to the adjudicator, but the appeal was unsuccessful, and no payment was received within 28 days
the amount of the charge increases by 50% and we will issue a charge certificate to the owner of the vehicle. It is too late at that stage to make representations and this is the start of the process to enforce payment of the penalty charge, which can lead to the charge being registered as a debt and possibly passed to an enforcement agency to pursue payment, at which stage the outstanding amount would increase further. It is therefore important that you do not to ignore any notices or correspondence that you receive.
You can find out more information about the PCN process and appeals to the independent adjudicator on the PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) and Traffic Penalty Tribunal websites.
Bus lanes
We introduce bus lanes to help improve bus journey time reliability and punctuality, increase levels of bus patronage and reduce bus journey times. This helps promote more sustainable travel options and improve the environment. Although enforcement can take place in any bus lane during its hours of operation, we will install traffic enforcement cameras at locations where we feel they are needed to help ensure compliance and stop unauthorised vehicles driving in the bus lanes. At present we have cameras in place covering the bus lanes on the A320 Woking Road to the north of the A3 flyover and on Onslow Street in Guildford.
Moving traffic offences
In May 2022, the Department for Transport (DfT) introduced regulations that allow local authorities across England to carry out enforcement of moving traffic offences using traffic enforcement cameras. The offences include stopping on yellow box junction markings, making banned turns, failing to proceed in the direction indicated by an arrow, failing to comply with signs prohibiting access for specified types of motor vehicles. You can see a full list of the traffic signs and road markings in Annex A of the DfT's statutory guidance on civil enforcement of bus lane and moving traffic contraventions.
In July 2022, the government introduced legislation which enables us to carry out camera enforcement of these moving traffic offences. By doing this, it will help us increase the effectiveness of measures proposed in our latest Local Transport Plan (LTP4) aimed at improving safety, reducing congestion, protecting the environment and upgrading infrastructure for buses, cycles and pedestrians.
Before we start enforcement at a location, we monitor compliance levels so we can be sure that there is evidence of a moving traffic offence or misuse of the highway, and we make sure that the road layout, signs and road markings are all clear and can be easily understood by road users. We then have to carry out a consultation on the use of cameras at the location and when we start enforcement, we have to issue warning notices for first offences for the first six months of operation.
Following a consultation on the use of cameras and a review of the signs and road markings in the spring of 2023, we started enforcement of the yellow box junction markings on the Dennis roundabout in Guildford in June 2024.
Towards the end of 2023, we carried out a consultation on the use of cameras to enforce the 7.5 tonne weight limit on the A3016 Upper Hale Road, the A287 Odiham Road and the A287 Castle Street in the Farnham area. There was a lot of support for this and we expect to start enforcement in the autumn of 2024.
HGV Watch
As mentioned above, one of the moving traffic offences is failing to comply with signs prohibiting the use of vehicles above a certain weight. In 2023, we started monitoring the movements of heavy goods vehicles where there are weight restrictions in place and our HGV Watch scheme is now in place to check compliance levels and see whether camera enforcement could potentially be used to stop lorries being driven along unsuitable routes.
