A man has warned Islington drivers about a poorly signposted traffic restriction after he was wrongly fined by the council.

Hugh Dawnay was issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for £130 after he broke the restrictions in Sussex Way at the end of last year.

But after he appealed the fine - saying the council "sneakily" adjusted the signs afterwards - an adjudicator ordered Islington to cancel Mr Dawnay’s PCN, finding that there was “no evidence of any warning signage”.

Mr Dawnay travelled down Kingsdown Road before turning into Sussex Way on December 7, 2022, at 3.17pm, a time when the road is under a council ‘School Streets’ restriction.

This is where a road with a school temporarily closes to become a pedestrian and cycle zone during the school’s opening and closing times.

Mr Dawnay claimed that there was inadequate signage in Kingsdown Road to warn him of the Sussex Way restrictions, and that he did not realise until he had committed to the turn.

He said: “You have a situation where you’re driving along the road, you take a turn, and bingo within five yards you’ve broken the restriction.

“Because there’s no forewarning, you actually can’t see the sign until you are committed to the turn.

“One of the signs you couldn’t even see it until you started turning, and the other sign you couldn’t see it and it was also obstructed by a tree.”

The adjudicator agreed with Mr Dawnay, stating that the signs “only come into clear view for a motorist turning the corner when it is too late to react”.

Mr Dawnay also claimed that, when he appealed the PCN, Islington Council moved the signs, but "sneakily" did not inform the ajudicator that they were now in a different position.

The ajudicator said: “The appellant tells me the signs have subsequently been repositioned, which might suggest the council appreciated there might be a problem.”

Mr Dawnay will now no longer have to pay the fine initially issued by the council.

But the adjudicator ruled that he was not entitled to costs from the council as the authority had not “acted wholly unreasonably at any point”.

Cllr Rowena Champion, who is responsible for environment, air quality and transport, said: “We are working hard to make our streets cleaner, greener and healthier.

“School Streets make it easier for people to make more environmentally-friendly choices about how their children get to school.

“The signs at this location have been compliant with regulations since the traffic restriction was installed.”