A FURIOUS driver has vented this anger at getting a fine for driving in a bus lane - despite being sent there by police.

Traffic was diverted towards it when a lorry crashed into a railway bridge on Wootton Bassett Road.

That saw police close the road for a number of hours, while officers redirected drivers down Penzance Drive, into the path of the bus lane and the automatic cameras, which issue a fixed-penalty fine of £30.

John Rayner, from Westlea, was one of those stung with a fine.
He said: “I just followed everyone else through. There must have been four or five cars in front of me,” he said.

“We couldn’t turn round because there was traffic behind us, and we couldn’t go forward because the road was inaccessible and they diverted us up Penzance Drive. 

“I’d never been up that road in my life. I hadn’t a clue where I was going.”
He says he has appealed the fine but is waiting to hear back.

“I thought they could have turned the cameras off for the odd couple of hours that the road was closed,” he added.

“I am aggrieved because I had no intention of going down there, I was just following the other cars.

“I have challenged it but whether I’ll get any joy from that I don’t know.

“It seems to be a bit of cash cow.”

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: “There is clear signage on the approach to the Outlet Centre from Penzance Drive that cameras are in action and there is ample opportunity for drivers

to turn round at the mini-roundabout at the Outlet’s west car park.
 

“However, if motorists can provide evidence that they were advised by the police to use the bus gate as part of the diversion route then we could cancel the penalty charge notice as per our cancellation guidance.”

The council has come under fire before when a Freedom of Information request in May 2017 revealed the bus lane had netted it £1.5 million from 51,180 fines to drivers since the cameras came into effect in October 2014.

The most recent figures show more than 18,000 drivers were caught out by the bus lane in 2015 and 2016.

In 2017, 20,673 were issued with fines, accruing at least £600,000 for the council for that year, if every driver paid the £30 fine.