THE most 'profitable' yellow box junction in Britain has been revealed and it made a staggering £450,000 in the first eight months of 2025 alone. On average 27 penalty notices were issued every single day. The box is in Kingston upon Thames, in south west London. Roland Head, 75, who has run The Real Butchers shop nearby for 42 years, told The Sunday Times: "It's not about traffic control, it's a cash cow. The local government isn't going to change anything because it's making them money."

He said he sometimes stands by his window in quiet moments during the day and just watches as frustrated drivers get stuck in the yellow grid. Between 8.35am and 9am on Wednesday, he counted five.

In the first eight months of this year, the council issued 6,568 penalty charge notices for the junction, made up of two boxes on Kingston Road: approximately 27 penalties a day. It cost motorists a total of £451,405 according to a Freedom of Information Act inquiry.

The Highway Code states that drivers must not enter a yellow box until they can drive over it without needing to stop, to help traffic flow on busy roads. But many claim the fines can be unfair; cars might have to stop because of somebody else's bad or unexpected driving.

These boxes on Kingston Road were put in place in 2015, but fines were not introduced until July 2020. The junction is less than half a mile from an ambulance depot at New Malden which means ambulances often get stuck behind other cars unwilling to move into a yellow box for fear of being fined.

Peter Ryan, 51, a bathroom salesman, said: "I feel angry as soon as I turn on to that road, almost in anticipation. It's like everyone forgets how to drive because they're so desperate not to get fined."

Since April, the fine for a yellow box junction is £160 in all London boroughs, reduced to £80 if paid in the first 14 days. Outside London it is £70, reduced to £35.

Kingston borough said income generated from PCNs is ring-fenced for essential traffic and parking management, with any excess funds used for other priority transport-related initiatives, including Freedom Passes for elderly residents.

A spokesman said: "These two yellow boxes are in place to prevent traffic from blocking each junction, and allow vehicles to enter and exit side roads, and allow sight of pedestrians and cyclists to motorists turning right ... to improve safety for all road and pavement users."

The council now disputes the claim that the junction generates the highest revenue in the UK, arguing that it is two boxes, rather than one.

Yellow box on road junction nets almost £1/2m in fines in 8 months - The Mirror