25,000 fines handed out to drivers caught using a city centre bus lane

As many as 25,000 fines have been handed out in two years to drivers caught using a city centre bus lane.

Tens of thousands of fines were issued to drivers who were caught on camera using the Lowesmoor bus lane in Worcester.

Figures show that Worcestershire County Council has raked in £900,000 from the fines in just under two years.

The council’s cameras went live in late 2020 with drivers – including taxis – facing a fine of £60 if found to be illegally using the key route.

Councillor Mike Rouse, cabinet member for highways and transport at Worcestershire County Council, said: “The data shows that the recent changes in enforcement, has reduced the number of non-public service vehicles using the bus lanes.

“The county council took on responsibility for enforcing the bus lanes from the police in 2020, to ensure that the lanes were used appropriately, and to ensure that disruption to the public transport network is minimised.”

Earlier this year, some of the city’s Labour councillors called on the county council to scrap the ban on taxis using the bus lane to cut queues and help people already struggling with the cost-of-living who are forced to take a longer route.

More than 15,000 fines were handed out between September 2020 and October 2021 and another 9,800 drivers were slapped with penalties between November 2021 and August this year, according to figures provided by Worcestershire County Council following a Freedom of Information request.

The fines handed out in the 12 months between September 2020 and October 2021 amounted to more than £1 million but the county council received just over half of that at £551,000.

In the following 11 months between November 2021 and August 2022, the 9,868 fines handed out to drivers amounted to £689,600 and the county council received just under £350,000.

A total of 2,357 fines were handed out in October 2020 – the first full month the cameras were in operation – which has yet to be topped as the most handed out in a single month.

An average of 1,085 fines are handed out each month, based on the latest figures.

The figures for 2022 show that the number of fines handed out each month has not passed 1,000 with the 908 fines in May, the most handed out in a single month this year.