Drivers Caught in Yellow Box Junctions at the Dennis Roundabout Paid £81k to SCC

Published on: 27 Jun, 2025
Updated on: 27 Jun, 2025

The yellow box junctions at the Dennis roundabout. Image Apple maps

By David Reading

The Dennis roundabout in Guildford generated the largest revenue in fines from drivers who entered yellow box junctions illegally in England last year, new research has found.

Statistics obtained by the RAC found that 4,250 penalty notices (PCNS) were issued for the roundabout over a seven-month period – costing drivers a total of £81,445.

These boxes are designed to ensure smooth traffic flow, and motorists who enter them risk a fine unless their exit is clear or they are waiting to turn right. PCNs are generally £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days of the notice being issued.

There are two yellow boxes on the Dennis roundabout. Surrey County Council said a preliminary survey  found that there were potentially about 3,000 contraventions a week on each of them. This reflected how congested the roundabout is due to the high levels of non-compliance with the yellow boxes.

Before 2022, only councils in London and Cardiff could enforce yellow box junctions and other moving traffic contraventions, such as driving the wrong way up a one-way street.

Legislation introduced in May 2022 enabled all councils across England to apply for enforcement powers.

The RAC investigation showed that drivers in ten local authority areas that had begun enforcing yellow box junctions paid fines worth a combined £998,640 last year after apparently falling foul of the rules governing them. A total of 32,748 PCNs were issued.

The total of £998,640 came from 36 yellow box junctions where fines were enforced, outside London and Cardiff.

The RAC says their statistics, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, should “send alarm bells ringing in council offices”.

The organisation said that in some cases there may be issues with the design or location of the boxes themselves.

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “Yellow boxes serve an important purpose in keeping traffic flowing at busy junctions. But with councils outside London and Cardiff now enforcing them for the first time, it’s now more important than ever they do everything they can to ensure drivers don’t get unfairly caught out. After all, very few people set out to deliberately flout the rules and get fined.”

He added: “It’s vital box junctions are used in the correct places and are only as big as absolutely necessary. They must be fairly set up so that drivers don’t find themselves stranded through no fault of their own. Sadly, we are aware of several locations where this isn’t the case.

“We’ve previously expressed concern that drivers would get fined unnecessarily without the Government updating its box junction design guidance. This must clearly set out the locations where they can be used and, crucially, ensure they are sized correctly so as not to trap drivers unwittingly. With more local authorities likely to enforce yellow boxes in the coming months and years, it’s vitally important this happens.”

News that the Dennis roundabout is top of the hot spots has generated a large number of responses on social media, with many people sympathising with drivers.

One person posted: “This is a very chaotic roundabout in rush hour and it’s very easy to make a mistake. Also when your exit is clear, cars cut across lanes and block your exit. This system is set up deliberately as a money making scheme, as most these schemes are.”

Another person said: “If that many people are being caught out by a road layout then it clearly needs a design rethink.”

A Surrey County Council statement issued today (June 27) said: “Dennis roundabout is at one of the busiest junctions in Guildford, situated as it is at one of the main exits from the town, at the bottom of a slip road onto the A3. There are two yellow boxes on the roundabout.

“Prior to applying for moving traffic enforcement powers, we carried out a preliminary survey of these yellow boxes, which found that there were potentially about 3,000 contraventions a week on each of them. This reflected how congested the roundabout is due to the high levels of non-compliance with the yellow boxes. The fact that the figures show that there was an average of about 600 contraventions a month at both boxes combined indicates the effectiveness of enforcement and improvement with compliance.”

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