The use of 4500 km2 of amalgamated 3D seismic surveys allowed for an improved intra-Carboniferous seismic interpretation of the Dutch Cleaver Bank High, which is part of the Southern North Sea Carboniferous Basin. The observations of faults that were active during the Late Carboniferous are reviewed in the context of what is described in literature about the regional structural framework of the basin. The high quality seismic data show at least three distinct fault trends, namely east-west, NE-SW and NW-SE, active before Rotliegend times. All of these trends are inherited from older existing zones of weakness, and furthermore, all three trends have been reactivated again during the Mesozoic or Cenozoic to some extent. The interpretation of major controlling east-west shear zones that have been reactivated in different senses throughout geological history is the result of careful examination of the data. The dominance of such systems is not obvious on simple fault maps. Their role in the regional plate tectonics fits the model of escape tectonics of the North Sea-Baltic plate. The distinction of different styles of Late Carboniferous normal fault systems results in a better understanding of the different tectonic phases during the period from Westphalian D to Autunian.