Council chiefs have now decided to write off the fines of everyone who has driven through a controversial Bath bus gate.
Senior politicians at Bath and North East Somerset Council have acknowledged that they need to take drastic action in the face of a barrage of criticism over the new Dorchester Street bus lane.
Amid genuine fears that visitors could be put off coming to the city, they have asked officials to look at the how the fines for the thousands of people caught going through the bus gate since its launch in January can be waived.
It also looks as if the bus lane will now be returned to normal traffic use, with B&NES saying that a trial due to last six months was now complete.
The council had originally been looking at refunding only the subsequent fines of people who had been caught more than once, but has now decided to wipe the entire slate clean.
This will involve waiving or paying back fines running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Leader Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib Dem, Southdown) said: "We will be returning the fines wherever we can. What we have got from this is that everyone now knows there is a restriction there.
"We will be improving the signs still further and it is clear we need to go way above the legal minimum because of the road layout there."
He added: "Although the scheme has made Dorchester Street safer for pedestrians, improved passenger bus journeys and made it easier for buses to keep to the timetable, the council acknowledges that some motorists have found it difficult to adjust to the changes and alter their normal travel patterns. This is a unique scheme with a distinct set of issues."
A statement from B&NES said: "The council – in response to public concerns about the Dorchester Street restrictions – has confirmed that it has gathered sufficient information to complete the trial scheme. The council will be reviewing the outcome of the scheme before deciding how to proceed. However, everybody issued with a Penalty Charge Notice on Dorchester Street to date will have it revoked and anyone that has already paid will have their money refunded.
"The council has listened to the views of the public as part of this experimental scheme and will be processing all refunds in due course."
It said there was no need to contact the council directly and that people would automatically receive a refund. Anybody who has already paid by card will have their payment refunded directly back onto their card, and B&NES is working on issuing refunds for payments made in cash. All pending Penalty Charge Notices will be cancelled.
The Chronicle has been contacted over the last fortnight by motorists caught several times because the council's initial pre-fine warning letters took two weeks to process and send out, meaning drivers carried on using the lane, and were fined many times over.
Motorist John O'Connor, who was sent three fine notices, said: "This is a prudent decision and will hopefully restore some confidence.
I feel relieved."
Tracey Pierce of Paulton, whose husband Andy was fined, said: "It's the least they can do. Well done to B&NES for admitting defeat and recognising they were in the wrong in the first place."
At one point, a motorist was being fined every minute in the lane, which runs towards the railway station and is aimed at speeding up public transport.
Most of those caught since fines started being imposed in March were from outside Bath and had not been aware of the bus lane's existence.
B&NES has progressively added extra signs but instead of using conventional blue bus gate signage or a no entry sign, has relied on a red circle containing a car and a motorbike - the Highway Code warning that these are banned, leaving many people confused.
Enough people had signed an online petition to force a full council debate on the issue, and the council's parking staff have been bombarded by complaints and appeals.
In one four-week period, around 9,000 people were caught on camera driving down the bus lane.
B&NES has not yet released the latest fine figures, but it says there has been an 86 per cent reduction in cars in the street, leading to improvements in bus punctuality and enhancing safety for pedestrians.
It is looking at whether still more signs can be put up around the bus lane, although B&NES has insisted from the start that the restriction was properly signposted.
It has been unable to use a no entry sign as Department for Transport rules do not allow this where a bus lane is only operational at certain times - in this case between 10am and 6pm.
The council has not yet explained why it cannot use the conventional blue bus lane signs in force in London Road.
The clamour for far better signs around the bus lane had been backed by the authority's public transport champion, former cabinet member Councillor Roger Symonds, while the opposition Conservative group has also urged B&NES to tear up all the fines issued thus far.
A Facebook page set up to press B&NES to write off all the fines has attracted 4,386 likes, and pointed to the precedent of Essex County Council revoking 30,000 fines after protests over a confusingly-signed bus lane in Colchester.
The Cancel Bath Bus Gate Fines page which was set up on Friday is being bolstered by an online petition which has now topped the 3,100 mark, more than the 1,000 names needed to trigger a debate at a full meeting of the council.
The man who set it up, Tim Conroy, of Odd Down, said he was still hoping for an apology from B&NES.
"I set it up because I was appalled by the injustice of the whole system after reading the front page of the Chronicle last Thursday. The council were abusing their powers and innocent drivers were becoming victims. Neither I, nor any of my family, have received a fine so there was nothing in this for me apart from seeing the right thing being done.
"It just shows the power of people coming together which is easy with social media. It has taken under five days to cause the complete change of mind by the council - that is quite staggering.
"The campaign is not over as the petition also calls for an apology from BANES which we wait for with bated breath! I just hope that many more people in Bath now know who their local councillors are, and take more interest in the decisions that are being made about our beautiful city."
Opposition Conservative councillors have welcomed the writing-off of the fines.
Group leader, Councillor Tim Warren (Con, Mendip) said: "The Liberal Democrats' handling of the Dorchester Street bus gate has been a complete farce right from the beginning. They were warned time and again of the problems that would result from its introduction and the likely public backlash, yet ploughed on regardless. This is surely no way to run an authority.
"We welcome the fact that, after spending the past week defending the bus gate and denying there were any problems with the signage, the council has finally seen sense and caved in to public pressure to refund all the fines. If only they'd listened before."
The Facebook campaign was launched after it was revealed that the council could bring in £270,000 of fines in one month alone from the bus lane.
The page says: "It is a very easy mistake to make as the signage is inadequate and there are no road markings. B&NES has not made the bus gate restrictions clear enough (evidenced by the huge number of people driving through it) and are fining innocent people. Many of these will be visitors to the city who will be left with a bad experience of our beautiful city. This has brought shame to the city of Bath."
Those liking the page demand the council stops issuing fines until there is more widespread agreement over signs and markings.
The petition is at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/cancel-bath-bus-gate-fines and had been set up by Twerton campaigner Joe Scofield.
He said: "Last Thursday I was at Twerton Market with Bath Against Cuts, talking to people affected by the bedroom tax. I'm concerned that many residents already suffering under the bedroom tax, have now been hit by these harsh fines from the Lib Dem council.
"At a time when Oxfam and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation are warning of households being plunged into poverty, the local Lib Dems are just piling on the pain.
"This 38 Degrees petition allows me to email every signatory directly. So I will be using it to remind them of the council's callous action ahead of the next election, if the fines aren't revoked."
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