Westbound Approach

Advance Signage

Westbound, while there are signs for a width restriction ahead, Camrose Avenue otherwise appears to be a perfectly ordinary road until the immediate vicinity of the restrictions. These occur at a 15° bend to the left and so come as a surprise. 

All other width restrictions in Harrow are imposed on the nearside lane. Camrose Avenue is extraordinary in having a nearside bus gate with a width restriction to its offside. It was a prototype, never to be repeated (because in the absence of the planned bus-operated gate, it didn't work). 

Hammersmith Bridge

The only comparable configuration in London was on the approaches to Hammersmith Bridge, where the inside lane was a proper bus lane which actually did have a gate across it (to ensure that there were at most two buses on the bridge at any time). 

When a bus lane starts, there is a dashed white line 250 or 300mm wide diagonally across the lane (the "lead-in taper"). This tells motorists that the lane is about to become a bus lane. They can see it even if they are following a bus.

After the lead-in taper on the approaches to Hammersmith Bridge, the bus lane ran parallel to other traffic for 50m before the start of the width restriction. 

One place where road users needed to be told about the unusual arrangement of lanes was at the junction where Hammersmith Bridge Road separates from the A4. This was the sign used:

The left half of this sign shows the width-restriction with the bus-restriction on its nearside. 

The Width-Restriction Traffic Order

As is explained in Traffic Orders, the width-restriction traffic order applies restrictions to both lanes westbound and both lanes eastbound. In the nearside lane, it allows vehicles which are permitted by other traffic orders. 

Harrow have placed blue-background advance notices of the width restriction, as shown in the first image. Those notices have been placed in accordance with Regulation 18 of LATOR 1996. This requires local authorities to place such signage as they

consider requisite for securing that adequate information as to the effect of the order is made available to persons using the road

When the Council erected the advance notices of the width restriction, they were showing the effects of the width-restriction traffic order. These include the effects on the nearside lane as well as the width-restricted lane. With their signs for Hammersmith Bridge Road, TfL showed how this is done. The comparable sign for Camrose Avenue would be:

This means, for instance, that drivers of minibuses used by schools and care homes are not told that they can bypass the width restriction in the outer lane. If the full effects of the width-restriction traffic order were shown in advance, all motorists would be aware that a bus restriction lay ahead in the inside lane, while a 2m width restriction applied to the outer lane. 

Final Approach to the Restrictions

On Camrose Avenue not only is there no advance notice of the bus restriction in the nearside lane, there is also no signage telling motorists what is about to happen to the inside lane. 

After passing to the left of a traffic island, they are presented with this scene: 

In this view, two curved arrows can be seen, together with a stream of traffic heading towards the middle of the road. The traffic makes it obvious where to go. 

Consider what this scene would be like without the stream of traffic. The curved arrows would still be there, but why are they there? The road is about to bend to the left. Surely there must be some mistake?

At this point, the blue roundels with a bus on them are just becoming visible. They're certainly not identifiable as the reason to move out, in the way that the dashed thick white line of the lead-in taper to a bus lane is. That lead-in taper usually has curved arrows accompanying it, supporting the message, not as the message.

As is explained in Curved Arrows, these road markings are used as an adjunct to another road marking, whose message they reinforce. Motorists do not see them standing alone. Harrow have placed them where they are not prescribed. 

This is much stronger than saying that their use is not recommended. It's saying that the legislation does not empower Harrow to place those markings on the road there. Harrow are acting beyond their legal powers in doing so. 

Administrative law means that, as a result, Harrow cannot use the presence of the curved arrows to support their case. In a legal action brought by Harrow, the markings are legally void: it is as though they were not there. 

The Missing Sign

What is missing at this point on Camrose Avenue is an upright sign telling motorists that the inside lane is about to become a bus lane. Such a sign has been available since 2002 and is shown on the left below.

The words "Bus lane" on this sign have always had an expansive definition: the sign could be used whatever the nature of the bus restriction.

The sign on the right is a modern version, available since 2016, which shows the restrictions applying to each lane. 

One advantage of upright signs is that they are not obscured by vehicles on top of them. In an important report into the bus gate on John Dobson Street, Newcastle, the Chief Adjudicator observed:

5.17. ... Buses can reasonably be anticipated on a bus route, in both directions, and in bus lanes. There will inevitably be frequent times when a driver is following a bus, which is also likely to stop at a bus stop. Therefore, the presence of buses must be factored in to sign design and engineering.

Here the bus stop is beyond the restrictions, so the concern is to ensure that a driver following a bus is told that the bus has special privileges which mean that it can continue in the nearside lane while an ordinary motorist cannot.

Signs at the Restrictions

The signs at the restrictions are regulatory. They are not intended to provide advance notice. They indicate the precise restrictions which have been applied to that section of road by a traffic order. Upright signs are required to be placed as close as possible to the start of the restriction. Road markings are required to be placed within the restriction (but, in practice are often placed partly or wholly before).

In their submissions to adjudicators, Harrow assert:

There is no legislation for there to be advanced warning signs for the buses, taxis and cycles only lane.

Writing about the signage on John Dobson Street, where many motorists first became aware of the bus gate on reaching the blue roundels, the Chief Adjudicator wrote:

The situation is similar to the driver reaching the speed limit sign at the beginning of the limit, which gave rise to Walker J, in Coombe v DPP, finding that the speed limit was unenforceable. 

The overriding duty on local authorities is set out in section 122 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984:

It shall be the duty of every ... local authority ... to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicular ... traffic ... on ... the highway

Without advance notice, drivers would come upon hazards and restrictions unexpectedly. They would then have to brake suddenly and swerve, change lane or turn round. Accidents would be far more common. This is why highway authorities place warning signs 45m before a hazard and why, for some restrictions, there is well-defined advance signage. 

For nearside with-flow bus lanes, that advance signage includes the lead-in taper and an upright sign 30m before the start of the taper. The bus gate on Camrose Avenue mimics a nearside with-flow bus lane, but without any advance signage. 

Night

The images above are in bright conditions during the day. In adverse weather conditions and at night, a motorist's difficulties are greater. The image below was taken from the traffic island immediately before the restrictions: 

Note how much glare there is from light reflected from the road surface. This image was taken on a cold, bright night. The road surface was dry. The second curved arrow cannot be made out and the width-restriction signs look like lights in the sky. If you aren't following another driver who knows where to go, it's most unlikely that you will work out that there's a width restriction for which you have to move right out and then turn to the left to align yourself if you want to pass through unscathed.

Conclusion

In the words of Lord Justice Winn in James v Cavey [1967] 2 QB 676:

The short answer in my view which requires that this appeal should be allowed is that the local authority here did not take such steps as they were required to take under that regulation. They did not take steps which clearly could have been taken and which clearly would have been practicable to cause adequate information to be given to persons using the road by the signs which they erected. 

The appeal should be allowed.

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Written 30th October 2025; last updated 3td November 2025