FINED & FURIOUS
817 drivers caught in bus lane after roads chiefs forget to turn off cameras during city film shoot
MOTORISTS were slapped with bus lane fines – despite diversions being in place for filming.
Bungling staff forgot to switch the traffic cameras off while the city centre was turned into a film set for the Fast and the Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw.
A total of 817 demands for cash were sent out.
BUNGLING roads bosses have been forced to apologise after hundreds of motorists diverted for a Hollywood movie picked up £60 penalty notices because someone forgot to turn the cameras off.
Glasgow City Council rakes in more than £1million a year from the notorious bus gate at Nelson Mandela Place in the city centre.
But last month, roads officials suspended the restriction on cars and vans passing through to allow other streets to be shut off for filming ‘Hobbs and Shaw’ starring Idris Elba and Jason Statham.
Unfortunately, the camera which normally catches motorists resulting in a £60 fine kept whirring away – and 817 individual demands for cash have started appearing on door mats.
The fine can rise to £90 if it goes unpaid after a month.
One motorist has just had his fine ripped up by the council after he submitted an appeal.
He said: “I just wonder how many people just paid up and didn’t appeal?
“I was puzzled when it came in because I clearly remembered the signage saying the bus lane was suspended.
“This is not the way to run a road system, when you’re firing out fines that weren’t meant to be issued.
“At the end of the day, we pay enough in terms of parking fees in Glasgow without having rogue fines issued just because someone didn’t do their job properly.
“It’s a shambles.”
The council shut off a series of streets around George Square between October 23 and 29 to allow 200 film crew and actors shoot scenes for the movie, due out next year.
The high-octane Universal Pictures film stars Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson and Idris Elba in a spin-off from the ‘Fast and The Furious” franchise.
The council believe the mix-up happened when one of the production crew wrongly changed a street notice, on just one day of filming, diverting motorists into Nelson Mandela Place.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said:” A total of 817 notices were issued in the bus lane on West George Street at Nelson Mandela Square on October 28.
“All have been cancelled and we have contacted those affected to apologise.”
The Nelson Mandela bus gate caught out 22,317 drivers in 2017, producing income for the council of £1.3m.