BUS LANES RAKE IN £10m OF FINES IN LESS THAN 12 MONTHS

A THOUSAND DRIVERS CAUGHT EACH DAY ON OXFORD ROAD

MOTORISTS have been caught out driving in Oxford Road’s bus lanes nearly 350,000 times in less than a year.

And we can now reveal the sections of road where drivers are more likely to be rumbled – and where drivers are winning the most tribunal appeals.

Manchester council has confirmed it has issued 345,536 penalty notices since the ‘bus gates’ banning general traffic were launched in September 2017 – which equates to nearly a thousand a day.

If all those issued with tickets, minus the tribunal appeals we know about, paid £30 – the minimum amount which must be paid within 14 days – the council will have raked in an estimated £10.4m.

There were 138,805 fines between Hathersage Road and Nelson Street on Oxford Road, and 143,094 between Withworth Street West and Chepstow Street on Oxford Street.

So 81 per cent of total fines were accrued over just 450 metres. The calculation excludes successful appeals to Manchester council as the council did not provide this information. Nor did they tell us the exact amount they have collected from fines – so taking into account possible £60 and £90 fares for payments outside the 14 days, the figure could be more.

The council insists that a ‘reasonably diligent’ motorist should be able to navigate the no-go areas, and that only a ‘tiny percentage’ of appeals against fines are upheld on grounds of signage.

However, they have also conceded they have applied to the Department for Transport for extra signage.

The M.E.N. spoke to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal – where drivers can pursue appeals after the council has turned them down. We found that the vast majority – 88pc of last-chance appeals – had been successful.

And 60pc of those successful appeals were due to inadequate signage.

Figures from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal since last September show:

Out of 17 appeals between Hathersage Road and Denmark Road, nine were approved, with the council contesting just one.

Out of 303 appeals between Denmark Road and Nelson Street, 276 were allowed, including 114 not contested by the council at tribunal.

There were no appeals for the Oxford Road Devas StreetDover Street section.

There were no appeals for the Burlington Street-Grosvenor Street section.

There were no appeals for the Grosvenor Street-Brancaster Road

On Charles Street-Brancaster Road, there were 94 appeals dealt with and 89 allowed. The council didn’t contest 64 of those.

Out of the 186 appeals received for the Oxford Street Whitworth Street West – Chepstow Street run, 156 have been green-lighted – including 50 the council didn’t contest with the tribunal.