Videalert and NSL support Durham’s historic structure with the first weight-restricted bridge enforcement outside London.
NSL, part of Marston Holdings, has been working in partnership with Durham County Council since 2000. Providing on-street & off-street enforcement services, Cash Collection, Machine Maintenance, Park & Ride management and a Parking Shop. When the Government announced plans to extend Moving Traffic Enforcement (MTE) outside of London, we supported Durham in their application to the DVLA. Assuring they had the powers granted before the go live date. Durham County Council also obtained approval to enforce weight restrictions in the county.
Local authorities outside London can now apply for a designation order to enforce moving traffic contraventions. This means that local authority teams already using camera technology to enforce permitted parking. And bus lane regulations will soon have the option to enforce other moving traffic contraventions such as yellow box junctions, banned turns, pedestrianised zones and weight restrictions.
The challenge
Barnard Castle Bridge is a historic structure dating back to the 14th century, with a signed weight restriction in Durham. Although the bridge is signposted with weight limits, there have been incidents of HGV drivers continuing to cross despite the signs and causing structural damage.
The implementation
Once the Council was approved MTE powers. Videalert undertook research to identify the best location for their cameras to be positioned, identified lampposts for camera locations. And arranged the installation and testing for the new technology. Working with the software provider for Durham County Council. Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions, their 3Sixty software was linked with ours to form the first weight-restricted bridge enforced by a local authority outside of London.
The 24-hour-a-day enforcement camera went live on Saturday 22 October 2023. And captures vehicles with registered weights over 7.5T crossing the bridge. Once a contravention from the camera has been notified. Our NSL back-office processing team review the clip to ensure the vehicle is over the weight limit and issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Once the PCN has been processed on the back-office system, Imperial’s 3Sixty software will check whether the vehicle has been previously issued a warning notice for this restriction. If so, the PCN will be processed as a live notice; however, if it is their first time, a warning notice will be sent.
The impact
- 170 postal PCN and warning notices processed
- 50% of those were issued in the first six weeks of the camera enforcement
- Significant reduction in HGVS used the bridge as a shortcut
“Any money we receive from enforcing the weight limit will be used to maintain the camera and help run the service in the future. Any additional money will be used to support bus services and other transport projects throughout the county.”
Kieron Moralee – Traffic Management Section Manager, Regeneration, Economy and Growth
Durham County Council
