Additional reporting by Gabriel Morris

A council’s crackdown on idling motorists has been branded “virtue signalling” as not a single fine has been dished out in the two years since it was launched.

In May 2022, Canterbury City Council (CCC) warned drivers they faced a £20 penalty notice for leaving their engines running while stopped, pledging to target hotspots outside schools and at level crossings.

But with motorists able to avoid a penalty notice by just switching their ignition off when asked, concern has been raised over the efficacy of the scheme, which is also set to be introduced in neighbouring Thanet.

Others have questioned if enforcement is even taking place, claiming to have never seen council wardens challenging drivers in the worst affected areas in Canterbury.

On separate occasions this week, when the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited St Stephen’s level crossing in Canterbury, queues of cars on either side ignored anti-idling signs as they waited with their engines running.

Jennifer Holland, who lives nearby and is the vice-chair of the St Stephen’s Resident’s Association, says she initially welcomed the council’s campaign, which at first saw a spike in motorists switching their vehicles off, but she says drivers now “totally ignore” the warning notices.

“[Idling] is obviously a risk to people’s health - not only to the residents but to children walking to school and parents - so we were very concerned about it,” said Mrs Holland, who was among locals to fund their own signage before the authority’s crackdown.

“I thought if [the council] did do some enforcement the message would spread and people would know they need to turn their engines off, but they don’t.

“I’ve never seen an enforcement officer.

“If there’s not enough to do the job that’s needed, it’s somewhere they could increase their workforce and it would be of benefit to the whole community.”

When announcing its clampdown, CCC’s then-Conservative administration said motorists faced £20 fines in “hotspots such as outside the district’s schools, popular shops and other areas where parked vehicles are known to leave their engines running, or idle”.

It said those who refused to switch off when asked would be hit with a fixed penalty notice, which would rise to £40 if not paid within 28 days, as it pledged to "make the air we breathe that much cleaner".

The powers remain in force today, but as yet not a single driver has been fined - a fact Green city councillor Clare Turnbull says is unsurprising.

“I’d like to be really angry about this but I’m not surprised that they haven’t been issued,” she said.

“It’s difficult to enforce because if you ask someone to turn their engine off if they’re idling and they do so then of course you don’t issue a fine.

“So it could be that enforcement officers are going round and knocking on car doors and asking ‘would you mind turning your engine off’, but I’m not entirely convinced that’s the case.

“The main thing that needs to be done is education; people don’t realise that it’s illegal to leave your car running if you’ve stopped and we need more of a district-wide education plan to make sure that people are aware of the impact that it has on the environment.

“Enforcement officers are very stretched - we probably don’t have enough to cover all the things that we need to be doing.

Despite questions surrounding the scheme, CCC says the campaign has so far generated a “positive outcome” in the authority’s bid to clean up the district’s air.

“Issuing fines is not something we want to do and is only ever a last resort,” a spokesman said.

"A fine can only be given out if someone does not comply with a request to switch the engine off.

“On all occasions when a motorist has been approached, they have either been willing to switch their engine off or have driven away.

"As well as enforcement officer visits, we have also placed educational signs about switching engines off at drop-off and pick-up points a number of sites.

"All in all, this is a really positive outcome and we are grateful for the support of our residents in our efforts to improve air quality."

As a question mark hangs over the scheme’s success, neighbouring Thanet District Council (TDC) voted on Thursday to introduce the same fines under the same legislation.

At a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Cllr Heather Keen (Lab) said: “Leaving engines to idle not only burns climate-changing fossil fuels, it also produces nitrogen dioxide and fine particles, exposing children with asthma and older people with respiratory conditions to the harmful effects of pollution.

“Introducing these new powers will provide the opportunity to raise public awareness around these issues.”

But some remain sceptical about the council’s capability to make the campaign a success.

Cllr John Davis (Con), told the LDRS: “We’ve got to have the resources to enforce this issue - somebody to go and speak to the driver and request that he turns it off.

“At the moment it’s difficult to find enough parking wardens, so I question how this could be policed.”

The Cliffsend & Pegwell representative added that he believes the policy may be politically charged.

“I do think this is a pretty empty policy. Canterbury have tried this – I believe it was a Conservative initiative initially – and in two years not one ticket has been issued.

“It’s very easy to put out virtue signalling policies – it doesn’t escape my attention that we’re entering an election period so anything that can be waved around will be.

“In principle, I support anything that helps to prevent pollution, but it has to be viable.”

On the streets of Margate, however, opinion was split.

“Yes, you should be fined for that,” said 83-year-old Brian Swayne.

“You’re wasting fuel, which is expensive enough as it is, and you’re polluting the atmosphere - why sit there with the car going?”

Another resident, who would only give his name as “Badger”, said: “I just think it's another ruse from the council to take money from normal people – those that don’t have it basically.

“If you’re idling it’s going to be for a very small period - you’re going to create much more emissions when you pull away.”