More than 11,000 Norwich drivers hit with bus lane fines

And a camera at one bus gate, which only operates for two hours on weekdays, snared more than half of them.

Norfolk County Council received more than £280,000 in penalty charges from drivers who went into bus lanes or went through bus gates between October last year and October this year.

However, nearly half the drivers who chose to challenge or appeal the fines succeeded in getting the penalty charge notice cancelled.

Figures obtained using the Freedom of Information Act revealed 11,204 fines were issued to drivers who had gone into one of five city bus lanes covered by cameras.

More than 11,000 drivers have been caught by cameras monitoring Norwich bus lanes and bus gates (Image: Brittany Woodman)

Those locations are in St Stephens Street, Brazen Gate/Grove Road, Albion Way, Earlham Green Lane and Rampant Horse Street.

Drivers paid £288,880 into County Hall's coffers, with the camera at Brazen Gate/Grove Road, near Sainsbury's in Queens Road, accounting for £160,888 of the fines.

That bus gate only operates from 7.30am until 9.30am Monday to Friday, but 6,043 drivers were still caught going through it.

The sign approaching the bus gate in Grove Road / Brazengate in Norwich (Image: Brittany Woodman)

However, of the 886 drivers who did challenge or appeal the fine at that location, 599 were successful.

Among them was motorist Ian Bisset, from Ipswich, who claimed the fine was not legitimate because the road signs were not compliant with the Highway Code and the road markings were too faint.

He took the local authority to a traffic penalty tribunal and won, with the council not even contesting it, citing its own "procedural impropriety" in not having answered Mr Bisset's questions in a letter exchange prior to the tribunal.

The Grove Road/Brazengate bus gate (Image: Brittany Woodman)

However, the council insists the bus gate and the signs warning drivers are legally enforceable.

A spokesman said: "A little more than 6,000 penalty charge notices were issued at the Grove Road/Brazengate bus gate in the last year.

"The figure of 886 representations and appeals is only 15pc of that total and, in the vast majority of cases, drivers admit they have committed an offence and pay the required penalty. 

"The Grove Road/Brazengate bus gate is supported by a legal traffic order and appropriate signing and lining, including warning signs to direct drivers away from the restriction when it is in force."

Of the 11,204 fines issued in total, 1,895 were challenged or appealed and 896 of drivers got them cancelled.

The council said penalty charge notices can be cancelled for a number of reasons, such as technical errors in processing the notice or the driver having a valid reason for being in the bus gate.

Rampant Horse Street in Norwich (Image: Archant)

Elsewhere in the city, nearly 1,600 fines were issued to drivers who went through the Rampant Horse Street bus gate, paying just over £41,000.

St Stephens Street was shut for months due to a £6.1m revamp, more than 630 drivers were caught in the bus lanes, netting the council nearly £16,000.

St Stephens Street in Norwich (Image: Sonya Duncan)

At the Albion Way bus gate, near Morrisons, more than 2,210 drivers were caught, paying out nearly £60,000.

And at Earlham Green Lane in Bowthorpe, nearly 720 drivers were issued with fines, paying just under £14,000.

Up until the end of May, the penalty was £60, cut to £30 if paid within 21 days, but the tariff increased at the start of June to £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.

Despite St Stephens Street being closed for much of the year, the number of drivers caught driving in bus lanes or going through bus gates - and how much they paid up - was similar to last year.

Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure (Image: Archant 2021)

Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "Bus lanes and bus gates help us to manage the flow of vehicles on our road network.

"Their aim is to improve bus journey times and reliability, helping operators to avoid or bypass more congested sections of road.

"Income from penalty charge notices offsets the cost of running the service and any monies remaining are invested into wider transport-related improvement schemes."