More than 2,000 vehicles were recorded ignoring no entry signs in just one week in Chester.
Police have vowed to crack down on dangerous drivers after motorists were caught driving past the notices placed at Cuppin Street and Whitefriars in Chester.
The data, recorded by a traffic counter fixed to a piece of street furniture by Cheshire West and Chester Council, revealed that in just one week 2,318 vehicles breached the two no entry signs.
Evidence shows that 1,268 vehicles contravened the Whitefriars sign, while 1,050 drove past the same warning in Cuppin Street, during the seven day period in September.
Police have now vowed to target these locations following the high number of contraventions, saying that motorists failing to abide by the regulations are breaking the law and face being fined as well as being hit with points on their licence.
But some business owners and motorists have argued that the signs may be doing more harm than good – with drivers becoming confused by the new system.
A receptionist at SAS Daniels LLP solicitors on Whitefriars said that the new traffic controlling measures had not affected their business, but she had ‘seen a lot of people getting a bit fraught’ going the wrong way.
While a member of staff at the Unity Centre in Cuppin Street said that some of their delivery drivers had complained about the new system.
In September police issued 86 fixed penalty notices to drivers who breached the ‘no right turn’ notices on Delamere and Cuppin Street.
Sergeant Andy Burrage, of Chester Inner Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Contravention of these signs brings offending vehicles into direct conflict with vehicles driving in the correct direction, this raises obvious dangers.
“In each case the signs are conspicuously placed and there can be no excuse for deciding to ignore them.”
A council spokesman added: “Cheshire West and Chester Council have been working with local residents to introduce traffic management measures designed to reduce the level of unnecessary traffic using Cuppin Street and White Friars.
“These measures have been introduced to provide an improved environment for people who live and work on these streets and to preserve the historic character of the area.
“Following the introduction of access restrictions and lengths of one-way working, vehicle flows were monitored over a one-week period using an automatic traffic counter. As the results showed that a large number of drivers were contravening the one way restrictions the count information was passed to the police.”
