MORE than 40,000 motorists have been fined for crossing Lendal Bridge since controversial traffic restrictions came in last summer.

But almost a quarter of the fines issued were challenged – and more than 6,000 appeals were successful.

Despite that, the city council has raked in £1.3 million in fines, we reveal today.

All this is worrying on several levels.

We are not against trying new traffic restrictions. And there can be no doubt that the Lendal Bridge restrictions have made life for pedestrians in the St Leonard’s quarter more pleasant – even if some traders and many motorists have been left incensed.

But the trial was never supposed to be a money-making exercise for the city council.

The fact that so many motorists fell foul of the restrictions clearly indicates that, to begin with at least, the signing was not good enough.

As a result, the first time many motorists realised they had driven somewhere they should not have was when they received a penalty notice in the post.

This is particularly unfortunate in the case of visitors unfamiliar with York. There have been a number of letters to The Press from such visitors vowing they will never return.

This could all surely have been avoided with better preparation and better signing.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, whatever your views on the merits of banning traffic from the bridge, the execution of the experiment was poorly carried through.