Over 1,000 School Street Fines Already Issued in Bedford Park

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Ealing Council sees huge revenue surge from access restrictions

The entrance to the School Street zone on Southfield Road

February 21, 2026

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by a local resident has revealed that Ealing Council has issued over 1,000 fines in the two school street schemes recently activated in Bedford Park.

801 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been sent out to drivers who entered the zone around Southfield Primary School during restricted hours up until the end of November. By that time nearly £40,000 had been paid out in fines. The scheme was put in place at the beginning of September.

The scheme around Orchard House School which began a month later has so far seen over 500 PCNs issued bringing the council a haul of over £26,000.

These numbers are relatively small in the context of the whole borough which has seen over a quarter of a million PCNs issued for School Street violations leading to the collection of over £15 million in fines since the first restrictions were first introduced in 2020.

The rate at which Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are being issued has accelerated over the last year with the new School Streets introduced in 2025 already having brought in £3.76million from 57,600 fines handed out to motorists. Much of this is made up around the Coston and Edward Bentham School in Greenford where over 40,000 PCNs have been issued in 9 months bringing in a total of £2.6million. This has put the school at the top of the table ahead of other zones which have been operating for over five years.

Prior to the institution of this School Street the two zones with the highest level of fines were St. John Fisher RC School in Perivale with 38,486 raising £2,068,276.22 and Holy Family RC School which saw 26,843 fines raising £1,723,062.60.

The FoI request was made by local resident Simon Higginson prompted by a friend receiving a PCN for driving through a school zone. He requested data on fines up to November last year.

The entrance to the Orchard House School Street on Bedford Road

School Streets restrict drivers without access from passing through certain points near schools for a limited period at the beginning and end of the school day during term time. The council says that the intention of the scheme is to encourage more people to walk their children to school and to reduce the risk for children and their parents.

Mr Higginson was anxious to stress that he supports the objectives of the School Street programme. His concern is that they are failing in their objectives if high numbers of vehicles are continuing to pass through the zones during the restricted times and says that a better option may be a barrier rather than ANPR enforcement.

School Street Fines in Ealing Borough Up To November 2025
Launch Date	School	Zone	Area	Number of fines	Revenue
10/03/2025	Coston and Edward Betham Primary	SS51	Greenford	40,263	£2,461,049.48
02/09/2020	St John Fisher Catholic	SS01	Perivale	38,486	£2,068,276.22
09/11/2020	Holy Family Catholic	SS08	Acton	26,843	£1,723,062.60
04/03/2024	Stanhope Primary School	SS44	Greenford	18,920	£1,147,339.87
18/09/2023	Ark Priory Primary Academy	SS41	Acton	13,685	£850,365.04
06/05/2025	Allenby Primary	S33	Southall	11,617	£682,724.00
07/02/2023	Viking	SS34	Northolt	11,065	£659,502.09
03/06/2024	Horsenden Primary	SS33	Greenford	8,813	£495,685.67
11/11/2021	Christ the Saviour CofE	SS32	Ealing (Town Centre)	6,991	£460,293.98
26/02/2024	Greenwood Primary School	SS42	Northolt	6,337	£354,150.14
14/10/2024	Drayton Green Primary	SS49	West Ealing	6,039	£337,870.40
20/03/2023	St Vincent’s	SS35	Acton	5,872	£368,404.71
04/11/2020	St Mark’s Primary	SS11	Hanwell	5,867	£371,067.16
02/09/2020	Perivale Primary	SS01	Perivale	5,462	£297,073.66
07/10/2024	Hambrough Primary School	SS46	Southall	4,422	£270,537.21
13/03/2023	Brentside	SS37	Hanwell	3,910	£209,044.08
11/03/2024	John Perryn Primary School	SS43	Acton	3,541	£89,916.21
03/11/2020	Oaklands Primary	SS02	Hanwell	3,385	£223,027.71
06/11/2020	Vicars Green Primary	SS06	Perivale	3,362	£137,640.87
10/03/2025	Clifton Primary School	SS50	Southall	2,969	£167,859.30
04/03/2024	Villiers High School	SS45	Southall	2,897	£181,427.31
10/03/2025	Gifford Primary	SS22	Northolt	2,833	£139,906.67
02/11/2020	Willow Tree Primary	SS29	Northolt	2,832	£147,322.67
14/10/2024	Downe Manor / St Raphael’s Catholic	SS39	Northolt	2,746	£132,585.00
11/11/2021	St Joseph’s Catholic Primary	SS30	Hanwell	2,669	£143,943.53
10/03/2025	Three Bridges Primary School	SS52	Southall	2,642	£152,871.34
25/09/2023	Blair Peach Primary	SS38	Southall	2,434	£127,273.41
02/10/2023	Ravenor Primary School	SS40	Greenford	2,382	£124,868.44
11/11/2021	North Primary, Southall	SS31	Southall	1,890	£124,310.96
02/11/2020	North Ealing Primary	SS28	Pitshanger	1,865	£111,618.75
02/11/2020	St John’s Primary	SS03	West Ealing	1,474	£82,029.38
06/09/2025	Little Ealing Primary School	SS54	Northfields	1,451	£75,920.00
06/03/2023	Tudor	SS36	Southall	1,245	£79,634.55
04/11/2020	Mayfield Primary	SS19	Hanwell	1,035	£56,335.00
02/11/2020	Berrymede Infant and Junior	SS12	Acton	876	£61,717.09
06/09/2025	Southfield Primary School	SS55	Bedford Park	801	£39,280.00
06/10/2025	Orchard House School	SS57	Bedford Park	518	£26,560.00
05/11/2020	Derwentwater Primary	SS27	Acton	445	£30,188.32
10/03/2025	Grange Primary School	SS25	Ealing	284	£16,385.00
Total				261,168	£15,229,067.82

In an email to the leader of the council, Peter Mason, he says, “For a lot of schools it’s quite clear where the school streets are around them and it makes perfect sense to have as few cars as possible going into them and they should be fined for entering them during school opening and closing. But others are less obvious. Take for example Allenby Primary and Dormers Wells. This is a road that is the most direct route to travel from the Uxbridge Road (starting from Dormers Wells Lane) up to Ruislip Road. It just so happens that these two schools' entrances are on the main road and not down a side street (dedicated or otherwise) like a lot of schools. Since this particular school street started on 6th May 2025 up to the end of November 2025 - i.e. 7 months - 11,617 PCNs have been issued and £682,724 paid in fines.”

He calculates that this equates to 100 cars a day during the restricted hours or just under one a minute and that, in such circumstance,  a physical concertina barrier across the road (possibly manned) or bollards with flashing red lights would be a better option.

He concludes, “I would be interested in hearing what you do intend to do about a situation whereby since the introduction the only thing that has changed is that the council makes revenue, but the danger remains.”

The council says there are a wide range of steps taken to inform drivers of the presence of school streets: letters to households over an extensive area, both advance non-statutory warning notices in addition to required signage, lamp column notices and a grace period when warnings are issued.

An Ealing Council spokesperson said, “Ealing Council’s School Streets scheme restricts vehicle access, for a short time, to the roads around a school at the start and end of the school day, during term time, and are designed to minimise impact on residents and businesses. These schemes are enforced using Automatic Numberplate Recognition cameras and create a safer environment for children, young people and their families to walk, cycle or scoot to and from school.

“Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for School Streets have increased since 2020 due to the council expanding the number of School Streets operating in the borough. There are now School Streets in operation at 50 schools, and the council expect the number of PCNs issued in these locations to reduce over time as awareness of the restrictions increases.

“We remain committed to working closely with local communities to review parking conditions and respond to any concerns. You can contact us at schoolstreets@ealing.gov.uk for matters related to School Streets schemes.”

Councillor Paul Driscoll, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “Ealing Council’s School Streets programme was introduced to provide calmer and safer streets for children and is part of the council’s ambition to support active travel for children and young people, which will also improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing.

“Since the borough’s first school street was introduced in 2020, school-related driving has reduced by up to 18% and walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling to school has increased by up to 29%.

“In January we celebrated the borough’s 50th school with a School Street, which means now more than 27,000 children and families across the borough are benefitting from safer and calmer routes to school, reduced air pollution and less congestion.”

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