Council makes £1m in controversial bus gate fines

Bristol resident Matt Sanders says the bus gate "ensnares" motorists

Fines for drivers travelling through a controversial bus gate have generated more than £1 million in less than six months, figures show.

Bristol City Council made the equivalent of about £7,400 per day from the bus gate on Cumberland Road between 1 January and 14 May.

Signage states only buses, taxis and bicycles are allowed to pass through it.

The council has been approached for a comment.

According to figures released under a BBC Freedom of Information request, income from the bus gate grossed 20 times more than any other in the city during the same period.

There have been 34,393 fines issued to drivers passing through it.

In total, the Cumberland Road bus gate has generated £1,010,335 in fines.

The revenue made from fines across all 19 bus gates in the city was £1.39m in total.

The second-highest earning bus gate was Victoria Street (Bristol Bridge) at £59,105 and then Baldwin Street (Junction High Street) at £53,550.

The Cumberland Road bus gate is responsible for tens of thousands of fines, figures show

The figures come after a man claimed the bus gate was "unlawful" and "defective".

Matt Sanders said he believed the signage goes against national regulations and urged Bristol City Council in a 150-page dossier to make changes, as well as to refund drivers who had been penalised.

"They haven't disputed any specific point about the non-compliance with regulations at all, nobody's been in touch about any of it," Mr Sanders said.

"To make any changes means admitting that it was wrong beforehand, and then of course everyone wants their money back. So it'll be a battle to get it changed."

The council previously defended the scheme and said it installed 14 warning signs when it was only obliged to display two.

It said the bus gate was installed to improve air quality and give priority to public transport.