29 August 2012 Last updated at 15:37 ET

Games Lanes fines in London total £845,000

Motorists were fined £130 for flouting Games Lanes restrictions

About 6,500 fines totalling £845,000 have been issued to motorists for driving in Games Lanes, Transport for London (TfL) has said.

Motorists risked a £130 fine for using any of the 30 miles of lanes reserved for athletes, officials and media during the Olympics.

There has been a 98% compliance rate since the restrictions on the Olympic Route Network (ORN) came in on 25 July.

Drivers were warned but not penalised for the first six days, TfL said.

The £130 fine also applies to drivers who use the Paralympic Route Network.

The network, which came into effect on Wednesday morning, is smaller than the Olympic Route Network with about 8.7 miles of Games Lanes in operation.

'Compliance not income'

Garrett Emmerson, TfL's chief operating officer for surface transport, said "vital" lanes were open to general traffic when it was not too busy.

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More than 150 mobile digital signs informed motorists throughout the day whether Games Lanes restrictions were in place.

Mr Emmerson said: "We had no interest in unnecessarily penalising drivers and, with a very high compliance rate of around 98%, the overwhelming majority followed the requirement to stay out of Games Lanes when they were in use.

"In order to give drivers time to get used to the changes we made to the road network, we issued warning notices rather than Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) during the first six days of its operation.

"We subsequently issued PCNs to drivers who contravened the ORN, but continued to be proportionate and sensible; we sought compliance from drivers, not income from fines. Some 6,500 PCNs were issued."