Council rakes in £10,000 in an hour after turning road into a bus lane
Drivers were left furious, with one calling the council 'desperate'.
Drivers racked up fines of more than £10,000 in just one hour after the council decided to change a road into a bus lane.
Motorists labelled Birmingham City Council ‘desperate’ and ‘out of order’ after rules were changed to restrict traffic in Sheepcote Street in the city.
Between 7am and 8am on Monday morning, cameras snapped 177 unwitting drivers who went into the new bus lane without realising it had changed and now face a £60 penalty charge.
This means that the council is set to pocket £10,620 from the lane, which was previously a key route for commuters.
Council bosses warned drivers by painting the words ‘Bus Lane’ in white lettering on a red road surface.
They also reminded locals on Facebook on Sunday night, writing: ‘Cross the line, pay the fine’.
However, angry motorists accused the council of not giving them enough warning and argued that the bus lane rules were poorly signposted.
![**Moving Footage with relevant desk** Pic by SnapperSK - Pictured: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pic taken 1/9/2019) Birmingham City Council have today [Monday 2nd September] switched on bus lane ANPR cameras on Sheepcote Street in the city centre. Over 175 drivers were caught out between 7am and 8am each handing the council 60 pounds per fine. In total 177 drivers (including one who went through twice) passed through the lane equating to 10,620 pounds. The usually busy road connects Arena Birmingham to the business district of Brindley Place and Broad Street. The council mounted a social media campaign warning drivers if they ???Cross the line, pay the fine??? Bus lane signs and painted roads have also been put down but many motorists ignored the warnings. At the last minute a few drivers spotted the warning signs and turned around before passing through the restricted zone. ( - WORDS By JOHN SIDDLE - 07598032845 A ???desperate??? council today raked in ??10,000 in just one hour of new bus lines fines being enforced. Between 7am and 8am this morning, cameras snapped 177 unwitting motorists after rules were changed to restrict traffic in Sheepcote Street, Birmingham. The road, previously a key route for commuters in the city centre, was made bus-only with council bosses last night promising on Facebook: ???Cross the line, pay the fine'. Furious motorists have accused the council of not giving them little pre-warning and complained the new bus lane was poorly signposted. The 177 vehicles which drove onto the bus lane between 7am and 8am now face ??60 penalty charge - potentially putting ??10,620 into council coffers. The bus lane is to operate 24 hours a day. One motorist snapped in the bus lane today said: ???It???s out of order. I???ve been coming this way for years and I had no idea it had changed. ???I only realised it was now a bus lane when I was actually on the road and saw the lettering on the tarmac. ???By then it was too late. ???Once you???re on there you don](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PRI_82739044.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)
![**Moving Footage with relevant desk** Pic by SnapperSK - Pictured: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pic taken 1/9/2019) Birmingham City Council have today [Monday 2nd September] switched on bus lane ANPR cameras on Sheepcote Street in the city centre. Over 175 drivers were caught out between 7am and 8am each handing the council 60 pounds per fine. In total 177 drivers (including one who went through twice) passed through the lane equating to 10,620 pounds. The usually busy road connects Arena Birmingham to the business district of Brindley Place and Broad Street. The council mounted a social media campaign warning drivers if they ???Cross the line, pay the fine??? Bus lane signs and painted roads have also been put down but many motorists ignored the warnings. At the last minute a few drivers spotted the warning signs and turned around before passing through the restricted zone. ( - WORDS By JOHN SIDDLE - 07598032845 A ???desperate??? council today raked in ??10,000 in just one hour of new bus lines fines being enforced. Between 7am and 8am this morning, cameras snapped 177 unwitting motorists after rules were changed to restrict traffic in Sheepcote Street, Birmingham. The road, previously a key route for commuters in the city centre, was made bus-only with council bosses last night promising on Facebook: ???Cross the line, pay the fine'. Furious motorists have accused the council of not giving them little pre-warning and complained the new bus lane was poorly signposted. The 177 vehicles which drove onto the bus lane between 7am and 8am now face ??60 penalty charge - potentially putting ??10,620 into council coffers. The bus lane is to operate 24 hours a day. One motorist snapped in the bus lane today said: ???It???s out of order. I???ve been coming this way for years and I had no idea it had changed. ???I only realised it was now a bus lane when I was actually on the road and saw the lettering on the tarmac. ???By then it was too late. ???Once you???re on there you don](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PRI_82739037.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)
‘I only realised it was now a bus lane when I was actually on the road and saw the lettering on the tarmac. By then it was too late.
‘Once you’re on there you don’t have a second chance.’
Another local on the council’s Facebook page said the new route was a ‘trap’.
Malcolm Donaldson wrote: ‘It’s got to the point where I shall just avoid driving to town with all these traps, because that’s what they are.’
Dave Erfani added that it was ‘a joke totally designed to catch people out’, while Keith Ward commented saying: ‘Council is getting desperate now. They’ll step on anyone to get money. Watch your backs, people.’
![**Moving Footage with relevant desk** Pic by SnapperSK - Pictured: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pic taken 1/9/2019) Birmingham City Council have today [Monday 2nd September] switched on bus lane ANPR cameras on Sheepcote Street in the city centre. Over 175 drivers were caught out between 7am and 8am each handing the council 60 pounds per fine. In total 177 drivers (including one who went through twice) passed through the lane equating to 10,620 pounds. The usually busy road connects Arena Birmingham to the business district of Brindley Place and Broad Street. The council mounted a social media campaign warning drivers if they ???Cross the line, pay the fine??? Bus lane signs and painted roads have also been put down but many motorists ignored the warnings. At the last minute a few drivers spotted the warning signs and turned around before passing through the restricted zone. ( - WORDS By JOHN SIDDLE - 07598032845 A ???desperate??? council today raked in ??10,000 in just one hour of new bus lines fines being enforced. Between 7am and 8am this morning, cameras snapped 177 unwitting motorists after rules were changed to restrict traffic in Sheepcote Street, Birmingham. The road, previously a key route for commuters in the city centre, was made bus-only with council bosses last night promising on Facebook: ???Cross the line, pay the fine'. Furious motorists have accused the council of not giving them little pre-warning and complained the new bus lane was poorly signposted. The 177 vehicles which drove onto the bus lane between 7am and 8am now face ??60 penalty charge - potentially putting ??10,620 into council coffers. The bus lane is to operate 24 hours a day. One motorist snapped in the bus lane today said: ???It???s out of order. I???ve been coming this way for years and I had no idea it had changed. ???I only realised it was now a bus lane when I was actually on the road and saw the lettering on the tarmac. ???By then it was too late. ???Once you???re on there you don](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PRI_82739040.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)
![**Moving Footage with relevant desk** Pic by SnapperSK - Pictured: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Pic taken 1/9/2019) Birmingham City Council have today [Monday 2nd September] switched on bus lane ANPR cameras on Sheepcote Street in the city centre. Over 175 drivers were caught out between 7am and 8am each handing the council 60 pounds per fine. In total 177 drivers (including one who went through twice) passed through the lane equating to 10,620 pounds. The usually busy road connects Arena Birmingham to the business district of Brindley Place and Broad Street. The council mounted a social media campaign warning drivers if they ???Cross the line, pay the fine??? Bus lane signs and painted roads have also been put down but many motorists ignored the warnings. At the last minute a few drivers spotted the warning signs and turned around before passing through the restricted zone. ( - WORDS By JOHN SIDDLE - 07598032845 A ???desperate??? council today raked in ??10,000 in just one hour of new bus lines fines being enforced. Between 7am and 8am this morning, cameras snapped 177 unwitting motorists after rules were changed to restrict traffic in Sheepcote Street, Birmingham. The road, previously a key route for commuters in the city centre, was made bus-only with council bosses last night promising on Facebook: ???Cross the line, pay the fine'. Furious motorists have accused the council of not giving them little pre-warning and complained the new bus lane was poorly signposted. The 177 vehicles which drove onto the bus lane between 7am and 8am now face ??60 penalty charge - potentially putting ??10,620 into council coffers. The bus lane is to operate 24 hours a day. One motorist snapped in the bus lane today said: ???It???s out of order. I???ve been coming this way for years and I had no idea it had changed. ???I only realised it was now a bus lane when I was actually on the road and saw the lettering on the tarmac. ???By then it was too late. ???Once you???re on there you don](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PRI_82738968.jpg?quality=90&strip=all)
‘We are committed to improving public transport in Birmingham, reducing the number of cars on our roads and making the city’s air cleaner.’
In 2017/2018, motorists coughed up £1.36 million in fines on Birmingham’s bus lanes and bus-only roads.
Last year, there were 24 bus lane cameras operating in the city, an increase on the 12 cameras there in 2016.
In the first three months of last year, there were 2,000 bus lane fines per week on average.
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