Court of Appeal overturns decision to remove LTNs in Tower Hamlets

A judgment was handed down today after campaign group Save Our Safer Streets (SOSS) brought a legal case challenging Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s decision to remove the LTN scheme.

SOSS argued the decision was made unlawfully, contradicting the transport strategy (known as a Local Implementation Plan) agreed between Tower Hamlets and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.  

Appeal Court judges ruled in favour of SOSS, represented by law firm Leigh Day, determining that the decision to remove LTNs in Tower Hamlets should be quashed.  

The LTN scheme was implemented in 2020 in an effort to improve health and safety in the area, as well as to encourage alternative transport methods to cars.  

In September 2023, Mr Rahman decided to remove the LTN scheme, having been campaigning for its removal for over a year. 

His decision came despite two public consultations conducted following Mr Rahman’s election in May 2022, which found that more than half of residents surveyed remained supportive of LTNs.  

In November 2024, SOSS launched a judicial review challenge contesting Mr Rahman’s decision, which was initially knocked back by the High Court. 

But following a successful application to the Court of Appeal, the group had its case heard in November and asked the Appeal Court to overturn the High Court’s decision to side with Mr Rahman.  

In a judgment handed down today 22 January 2026 by the Court of Appeal, judges ruled in SOSS’s favour on the ground that Mr Rahman’s decision to revoke the LTN scheme breached a duty to implement the Local Implementation Plan. 

Ted Maxwell of Save Our Safer Streets said:  

“Thousands of local residents will be extremely pleased and relieved that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the decision to remove our popular Low Traffic Neighbourhood was unlawful.  

“This is a victory for local people who came together when they saw that their community stood to lose the safer streets they really value. This means the Mayor of Tower Hamlets must now accept that our safer streets are here to stay and he should look for a better use of £2.5m of public funds. 

“Things have changed a lot in the three and a half years since the mayor first wanted to rip out the LTNs. More and more people across Tower Hamlets appreciate the benefits brought by the calmer streets and at a time when so many of our fellow residents are struggling with the cost of living, there are so many better ways to spend public funds than on destroying community space and making our streets more dangerous and putting people’s health at risk. 

“As things stand, Tower Hamlets is falling further and further behind other London boroughs when it comes to having healthy neighbourhoods and healthy streets. We have the second highest rates of childhood obesity in London, one of the highest rates of hit and runs in London,  and 71% of our children live in poverty. 

“Whenever they are asked, people say they want more help to walk, wheel or cycle around the borough. A 2023 survey by Sustrans showed that half of Tower Hamlets residents want to walk or wheel more, and almost as many want to cycle more. Half wanted more government funding for cycling and almost 60% wanted money spent on better walking and wheeling routes. 

“We would like to see the council listen to the views of residents, schools, GPs, the Met Police and TfL and work with them to make transport policy decisions that people actually want.” 

Leigh Day partner Ricardo Gama, who represents SOSS, said: 

"Our client is delighted that, after a legal battle that has gone on for more than two years, the Court of Appeal has agreed that it would be unlawful for Tower Hamlets Council to rip up the safer streets schemes. In a context where the Mayor of London's transport strategy promotes low traffic infrastructure, and Tower Hamlets had agreed a plan to implement the Bethnal Green low traffic schemes, this judgment confirms that the Tower Hamlets' Mayor cannot unilaterally go against that strategy."