Manchester bus lane tickets to be written off
Thursday 25 March 2010 Back to Blog
Any van contract hire customers caught driving in bus lanes in Greater Manchester may have had a lucky escape after the council was forced to write off more than 5,000 fines.
It has transpired that since December 24th 2008, some of Manchester City Council's bus lane cameras did not have proper certification, meaning any fines generated by them are unenforceable.
It follows last year's revelation that more than 18,000 penalties paid between October 2006 and May 2007 were deemed invalid.
Vicky Rosin, the council's director of neighbourhood services, said: "The council has acted in good faith throughout and taken steps to notify the public as soon as this came to our attention.
"We are concerned and disappointed that a lack of clarity in the camera approval process allowed this situation to arise."
She reminded drivers that it is still illegal to drive in a bus lane and argued that there is strong public support for action to be taken against motorists that break the law.
Drivers caught using the bus lanes in Manchester are issued with £60 fines, however, this can be reduced by half if paid within 14 days.