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Driver's bus lane u-turn
Exclusive: Don Frame

April 20, 2009

COUNCIL bosses could end up paying back tens of thousands of pounds of fines after a driver turned loophole-lawyer to get a bus lane penalty quashed.

Derek B, 38, refused to pay the £30 on the grounds that the sign was wrong.

The blue-circle sign is supposed to state that only buses, cyclists and black cabs can use the lane - but the word 'only' was missing.



Manchester council admitted there had been a mistake and later corrected the sign.

But Mr B's success could now open the floodgates for other drivers to challenge fines they have already paid after being caught using the lane, outside Victoria railway station.

And the council could be faced with a bill running into hundreds of thousands of pounds after it emerged that in the four month period since the sign was first erected on December 15, a staggering 10,185 notices of prosecution have been sent out.

Mr Brocklehurst is himself a private hire driver, but only hackney carriages are allowed to use the lane. He was given a ticket in early January and the sign was not corrected until mid-March.

He said he has already helped get twenty similar cases quashed, and is now urging anyone caught before the sign was corrected to write to Manchester council asking for a refund.

Mr B was able to argue against the bus-lane fine after delving into road sign law. "The regulations clearly state that along with the round blue circular sign indicating a bus, a cycle and a taxi there should also be an accompanying sign bearing the word `Only'.

"At Victoria there was just a circular sign, so I wrote to the council informing them of the fact. It was a technicality, but the sign was in fact illegal."

Challenge

Mr B, from Audenshaw, added: "I have helped a number of other drivers do the same thing, and have printed off a standard letter which is available to anyone else who got a notice of fine before the sign was changed, to challenge it.

"There must be hundreds and hundreds of drivers that have received penalty notices for driving on this bus lane, so potentially there could be literally thousands of pounds involved. The fine is £30 if paid within 14 days, but doubles to £60 and then £90 if it goes unpaid."

He said private hire drivers have long argued that they should be allowed to use bus lanes across the city, as black cab drivers are able to do.

Rachel Christie, head of environmental services at Manchester council, said: "We have investigated this matter and there was a technical error with the sign, which has now been rectified and we have cancelled Mr B's ticket.

"While warnings, additional signage and prominent adverts on the MEN Arena website have led to more motorists complying at this location, compliance has not been as high as in other bus lanes.

"In light of this we will be making further improvements to the signage to make it abundantly clear to the small percentage of motorists unfamiliar with this location where the bus lane begins and access for motorists ends."

The council says that when signs at Victoria first went up on December 15 2008, they were perfectly correct and legal.

At some point the secondary sign bearing the word 'Only' disappeared, but the authority is unable to say precisely when.





The council said the 10,185 notices of prosecution does not represent the actual number of drivers fined, as not all cases would have been proceeded with.

Yep .. trying my hand at the catchy "Waily" headlines again.