CAMERAS on the County Bridge, in Barnard Castle, caught 97 lorry drivers flouting the weight limit in just over two months.
The HGVs ignored the 7.5 tonne ban between October 26 and December 31 last year – a total of 66 days.
Durham County Council installed state-of-the-art cameras in late autumn after taking over enforcement powers from Durham Police. County Hall now monitors the bridge and is able to issue fines.
The statistics were revealed at last week’s annual town meeting.
Ros Evans, a member of Barnard Castle HGV Action Group which was launched to find a way of reducing the impact of lorries in the town, said: “The cameras on the bridge have bothered me for years: we have had some that won’t work in the dark, some that don’t recognise foreign number plates and some that won’t work in the snow.
“But we have a new state-of-the-art camera that was fully functional on October 26, 2022.
“The worry I have is they [Durham County Council] will look on it as a revenue scheme but won’t see it strategically, because we want to stop people coming over the bridge if the vehicle is too heavy.”
Ms Evans says she will ask for the number of violations and fines every three months to see if the figures change or if there are repeat offenders.
She said all 97 drivers received a warning but not a fine.
Town clerk Martin Clark explained that the council would start issuing fines after the initial three months of the cameras being operational.
But Mr Clark added: “In the outlying areas like West Auckland there were signs about the weight limit. Those signs have been turned round. No individual can turn them round because they are huge.”
Resident Sam Henderson replied: “The council must have turned them round so they can get the fines.”
