66,000 Unlawful Fines and £6.6m Collected: Khan Accused of Suppressing TfL Inquiry
November 2, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Transport for London collected at least £6.6 million from 66,000 drivers fined under a speed limit later found to have been imposed without legal authority. Sadiq Khan is accused of vetoing an independent investigation into the scandal.
More than 66,000 drivers received penalty notices under a speed limit a Crown Court has since found was imposed without legal authority, and Transport for London collected at least £6.6 million from those fines, The Telegraph reported, while Lord Khan stands accused of burying the review that could have triggered mass refunds.
In October 2023, TfL used a traffic order to cut the speed limit on the A20 between Sidcup and Swanley from 70mph to 40mph after a number of cars left the road in wet conditions. An average speed camera was installed. In the first six weeks alone, around 62,000 drivers were caught, according to The Daily Sceptic. Each received a £100 fine and three penalty points, The Daily Mail reported. Some lost their licences. Some lost their jobs.
The order was signed off by Gary Oliver, an Area Manager in Asset Operations. Last month, during a speeding case at Crown Court, the court was shown a document marked "TfL RESTRICTED" which showed Oliver did not have the authority to sign it, The Daily Mail reported. The driver was acquitted.
Lawyers said the ruling would not automatically overturn other convictions, since Crown Court judgments set no binding precedent. It is nonetheless expected to prompt legal action from thousands of motorists seeking to clear their names, The Daily Sceptic reported.
The problem runs deeper than a paperwork error. When drivers challenged their fines in court, TfL managers and Metropolitan Police workers testified under oath that the speed limit change was done legally. Documents show TfL officials knew there was a problem more than two years ago, The Daily Mail reported. A previous Freedom of Information request from 2024 had suggested Oliver held the required authority, a claim the restricted document now contradicts.
When the issue was raised at the London Assembly last year, Khan refused to launch an independent investigation, The Daily Sceptic reported. He also ignored a written demand from three Conservative MPs: Laura Trott, Louie French and Gareth Bacon. Thomas Turrell, the London Assembly Conservatives' transport spokesman, called the situation "an almighty motoring miscarriage of justice" and told The Telegraph that "thousands of motorists have been sacrificed on the altar of the mayor's inability to admit that a mistake has been made."
Khan's office told the Daily Mail: "It is incorrect to suggest that the mayor or TfL misled anybody in relation to these fines." The Mayor's spokesperson also said that "no wrongdoing was alleged by the court, Traffic Regulation Orders were made lawfully, and all TfL staff acted in accordance with authorisation." TfL added it will support the Metropolitan Police in resisting upcoming appeals.
The political context sharpens the tension. Khan had set the Metropolitan Police a target of taking action on a million speeding offences a year, The Daily Sceptic reported. Clearing 66,000 convictions would cut against that target and return £6.6 million to motorists from an authority described as desperate to increase spending on crumbling infrastructure.
Sixty-six thousand people paid a fine they may never have legally owed. TfL still has the money, and Khan has refused every request to find out how much should go back.
Published November 2, 2026 · Frisian News