MANCHESTER council is set to cancel nearly 20,000 fines wrongly issued to motorists caught in bus lanes.

Town hall bosses have admitted they did not have the necessary certification from when the cameras were first introduced in October 2006 until they were given approval in May 2007.

Another eight bus-lane cameras were not approved when they were introduced in stages between February 2007 and early December 2008.

Full approval for those specific cameras was granted by the Department for Transport on December 24, 2008.

The periods during which they issued 'invalid' fines ranged from 23 days to 22 months. A total of 18,145 fines, worth £544,000, were incorrectly issued.

The council is now urging anyone who thinks they were wrongly fined to contact them immediately.

Challenge

The news follows a challenge over the legality of Manchester's bus lane cameras by celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, from Cheshire.

Mr Freeman - known as 'Mr Loophole' for his knack of finding flaws in the legal cases of police and prosecutors - claimed the council was using public surveillance cameras to fine drivers who stray into bus lanes.

He said the cameras were used for traffic monitoring but were not designated as speed or enforcement cameras.

Mr Freeman, who was alerted to the alleged problem by a council mole, said four cameras in the city centre and the university district were being used to 'illegally raise revenue'.

It is understood that two of the cameras he named are among those the council has now admitted wrongly issued fines.

They were on London Road and at the junction of Portland Street and Newton Street. The other six were mobile cameras that operated around the city.

The revelation, which follows a council review, will come as a major, and expensive, embarrassment for town hall chiefs.

Just last month Martin Lee, the council's head of street management, insisted they would 'rigorously' defend any money back claims.

"Since we started bus-lane enforcement with cameras in Manchester, there has never been a period when we have not had type-approval for them," he said.

Vicky Rosin, the council's director of neighbourhood services, said today: "Research shows that there is strong public support for taking action against motorists who use bus lanes illegally and we take our duty to enforce this very seriously.
 

we want to remind people that all our current bus lane enforcement cameras have full approval and we remain determined to ensure that bus lanes stay free-flowing for the benefit of public transport users and to help prevent congestion

Vicky Rosin, the council's director of neighbourhood services

"It is therefore deeply regrettable that this administrative oversight took place in the early stages of bus lane enforcement while were pioneering the use of this newly-introduced legislation.

"We have taken steps to notify the public as soon as this technically came to our attention.

"We apologise for this mix-up. Anyone who thinks they have been issued with a Penalty Charge Notice by one of these cameras during the period in the past when they were not approved can contact the city council.

"However, we want to remind people that all our current bus lane enforcement cameras have full approval and we remain determined to ensure that bus lanes stay free-flowing for the benefit of public transport users and to help prevent congestion."

Anyone who thinks they have received a fine for driving in a bus lane generated by one of the cameras which was not approved should e-mail their ticket number to buslanerepresentation@manchester.gov.uk or write to Bus Lane queries, PO Box 585, Manchester M60 3NZ. They will need to provide the ticket number or, if they no longer have this, their vehicle registration details and date the fine was issued.
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