Residents have urged Transport for London (TfL) to consider using cameras to introduce a banned left turn from the A3 for rat-running drivers in their neighbourhood.
People living in Tolworth suggested TfL use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to ban all but residential and essential business vehicles from turning left into Fullers Way North from the A3 as a solution to the issue.
It comes as part of long-running controversy over rat running in Tolworth, which residents have repeatedly raised to Kingston Council. The authority originally introduced a trial road closure of Tolworth Road to vehicles at its junction with Fullers Way North in 2021, but scrapped this after it was found to have displaced vehicles onto surrounding roads.
The council also U-turned on an experimental ban it had introduced on drivers turning left from Fullers Way North into Tolworth Road at peak hours in 2023. It agreed to introduce minor measures to improve the area last year, including raised crossings at junctions, speed indicator devices to encourage drivers to comply with the area’s 20mph speed limit and markings asking them to slow down.
The council most recently asked TfL to investigate banning all drivers from turning left into Fullers Way North from the A3, which was considered ahead of the authority’s Surbiton Neighbourhood Committee on July 15.
TfL published a statement ahead of the meeting opposing the proposal, partly based on traffic surveys carried out by the council in October 2024. The data showed the turn was used by more than 400 vehicles at peak hours.
TfL’s statement said it was likely most traffic would reroute via Tolworth Roundabout if the banned left turn was introduced, which could not take on this extra traffic as it already ran at full capacity during peak hours. It raised concerns about the safety of extra queues along the A3 eastbound slip road onto the roundabout if the proposal was taken forward.
Resident Liz Mitchell told the committee on July 14 that while the banned left turn would not be the “silver bullet” to solving rat running in the neighbourhood, the data used by TfL to make its decision was “incomplete” and underestimated the level of through traffic in the area.
Ms Mitchell said the neighbourhood was facing “rat runners, speeding, antisocial behaviour, damage to property, air and noise pollution, all caused by displaced traffic from the TfL roads, especially the A3” – with thousands of vehicles a day using residential roads as cut-throughs. She added she felt TfL was not concerned enough about “our local community and our local roads”.
Residents asked whether TfL would consider introducing the banned left turn into Fullers Way North from the A3 with ANPR cameras to allow locals and essential business vehicles through without penalty.
Resident Alex Mills said the proposal was seen by many locals as “the only viable solution… to stop rat running”, as he asked whether TfL had completely ruled it out.
Adam Duff, Network Performance Delivery Manager at TfL, said the scheme would be expensive and complex to run, but that TfL could explore it further. He said: “I think that is an interesting proposition and we’d be keen to understand that and give a full position on that.”
Responding to residents’ concerns, Mr Duff added: “We try and do our best to keep main traffic and freight on our roads. It’s the most appropriate and safest place for it, on the bigger roads, but we don’t have the control of people’s own free will to make destination and routing choices of their own.”
Council officers will now put together a report on the debate and make recommendations for the way forward, which will be considered at the committee’s next meeting in September.
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