Bus lane catches out more than 1,600 Eastbourne residents in three months

Penalty fines on using the bus lane in Gildredge Road were introduced on September 1 this year. Jan Field got caught out on the evening of November 1 and paid her fine. The charge for a bus lane penalty charge notice is £70. This is reduced to £35 if it is paid within 21 days which is what Ms Field paid. She said: “It was dark and torrential rain, hence poor visibility. I drove down Gildredge Road and turned left as I have done for many years. It does not make sense now, to keep to the right of the island , normally for straight ahead, when you are almost immediately turning left.”

A freedom of information request (reference: 12982797) from East Sussex County Council has revealed that since September 1, 1,604 penalty charge notices have been issued to drivers (up to December 2) - 538 in September, 572 in October, 467 in November, and 27 in the first two days of December. This means if everyone paid the £35 fine, £56,140 has been paid in a matter of three months.

An East Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “It is illegal to drive in a bus lane, unless permitted, and we would encourage people to be aware of traffic regulations when travelling around East Sussex, particularly in town centres where a number of measures are in place to keep traffic flowing.

“The purpose of bus lanes is to encourage more people to use public transport by improving bus journey times and reliability and reduce congestion, traffic pollution and carbon emissions.

“The bus lane in Gildredge Road is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has clear signs and road markings and is separated from the lane used by normal traffic by a solid white line. To reduce misuse of the bus lane, enforcement using digital cameras began at the end of May with motorists given a grace period of three months where warning notices were given instead of penalty notices.

“Money raised through penalty charge notices pays for the running of the scheme, and any surplus is reinvested in local transport schemes.”

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