Yellow boxes are heading back to Wanstead
Redbridge Council has proposed new yellow boxes at 14 junctions across the borough, two of them in Wanstead, after traffic surveys found them regularly blocked. The consultation has closed and no decision is published. It follows the 2024-25 row over two High Street boxes that fined drivers, then vanished after a safety audit.
If the words "yellow box" make you wince, look away now. Redbridge Council wants to paint new ones at 14 junctions across the borough, two of them in Wanstead, and the consultation closed in September with no decision published yet.
Locals will remember the last time. Two High Street box junctions went in in October 2024 and came out in May 2025 after an independent safety audit, while the council said the fines issued in between would stand. This time it's Blake Hall Road at Tennyson Avenue and New Wanstead at Homesdale Close. The rest are in Gants Hill, Woodford and elsewhere, including Green Lane at Granton Road, Hazeldene Road and St Marys Road, and Redbridge Lane East at Margaret Way. The full list is on the council's page.
The council's Let's Talk Redbridge page says traffic surveys found "14 junctions were commonly obstructed during the daytime (from 7am to 7pm) over one week". Boxes, it says, ease turning in and out of side roads, cut queuing, help emergency vehicles and bin lorries, improve journey times and safety "through better sightlines", and make pedestrians more visible. "All feedback received will be fully considered," it adds.
Feedback was due "by Sunday 13 September 2026", but the page is dated 14 September, and we couldn't establish whether the consultation was extended. There's no date yet for a decision, or for any paint.
Remind yourself of the rule. Rule 174 of the Highway Code: "You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right."
London boroughs can enforce this with cameras and penalty charge notices. London Councils lists the charge for "minor moving traffic contraventions" at £160, halved if paid within 14 days (21 if issued via CCTV). We haven't confirmed which band Redbridge applies to boxes.
The High Street saga
Redbridge introduced two boxes on Wanstead High Street in October 2024, at Woodbine Place and Grove Park. They proved controversial. The detail that follows was first reported at the time by local sites Wanstead Village Directory and Wansteadium, and we found no other published record of it. In April 2025 the Wanstead Village ward councillors, Paul Donovan, Jo Blackman and Daniel Morgan-Thomas, said officers had told them "drivers should not be penalised for stopping in a yellow box to allow pedestrians to cross the zebra crossing", and that they'd asked for a road safety audit.
The boxes went in May 2025. A council spokesperson said the audit "recognised the benefits of the yellow boxes" but found their placement near a zebra crossing "was causing confusion for some drivers and potential safety concerns".
The fines didn't go. The council said penalty notices issued while the boxes were in place "remain valid" and "were correctly and legally issued". Opposition leader Cllr Paul Canal called for refunds. We've found no published figures for how many notices were issued or what they raised, and no public version of the audit.
Nor has the council said whether the new markings would be camera-enforced, how many people responded to the consultation, or whether either Wanstead junction has a zebra crossing nearby, as the High Street boxes did. The plans are on the consultation page, and we'll update this when a decision is published.
