On the first day of Christmas, the council gave to him... a series of expensive fines.

Justin Lee, of Whitehall Gardens, north Chingford, has received two penalty charge notices this week fining him for a right-turn that he takes on his daily commute.

Turning right from Old Church Road into Priory Avenue was banned in October between 7.30am and 9.30am.

Mr Lee was unaware of this until the fines from Waltham Forest Council.

And knowing he drove that way several times over the past month, he now fears he will receive up to six additional fines.

Mr Lee said: “The council are fining puzzled motorists for turning right when there are clear turn right road markings.

“They have recently installed a camera and there has been no prior notice of the restrictions on turning right.

“For motorists like me that have used this route for a decade, it is a shock.

“I use this route daily and now I am dreading multiple fines - it is not exactly the gearing up to Christmas I wanted.”

Mr Lee was caught by a traffic camera on November 19 and November 26 turning right at around 7.40am.

There are signs indicating the prohibited times on the side of the road - but Mr Lee claims the prominent right turn road markings and fact that one sign is not very visible led to his and others' violation of the highway code.

He has since been back to the junction and found that many other drivers are falling into the same trap.

On Friday he witnessed 14 motorists making the illegal turn in just 25 minutes.

At £130 per penalty charge notice that equates to £1,820 from those 14 drivers, or £910 if they can pay within 14 days.

The charge is further increased to £195 if not paid within 29 days.

However, Mr Lee did not receive the penalty charge notice for his offence on November 19 until 23 days after the incident.

He said: “I’m a single dad on a low income so I am really dreading receiving what I suspect will be at least eight to ten further notices - especially if they are all outside the discounted rate period."

Mr Lee is calling for the council to make the restrictions more visible to prevent other drivers facing the same pitfall.

The ban has been in place for over a year. The council said there was a public consultation for a month from August 4, 2017, with signs going up from October 15, 2018 and the ban in place from October 22.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “We have listened to residents’ and local councillor concerns over road safety and rat running in Chingford and have acted.

“We carried out traffic monitoring in the area and proposed a solution to prevent cars cutting through these local residential roads.

“These banned right turns were introduced following a consultation with local residents last year where more than half of the respondents supported the changes.

“As a council we prioritise the safety of our road users, particularly the most vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists, and expect that these changes will have helped resolve local safety concerns.”

A council spokesperson added: “Advance warning signs of the no right turns were installed in Old Church Road for a week before the new ban came into force.

“Two signs have been placed on either side of the road in advance of the turning in line with Department for Transport guidance.

“We have already received appeals against the resident’s Penalty Charge Notices within the 14 days of receiving the notices so he is still entitled to the discount.”