A driver fined twice for passing through a bus gate said that the signage was poor and he vowed to take his case to an independent tribunal.
John Neville, from Telscombe Cliffs, was fined twice after going through the bus gate into St George’s Place, Brighton, from Marlborough Place as he picked up and dropped off drums for a charity gig.
Both incidents occurred late at night – the first just before 11.15pm on Monday 28 July and the second just before 10pm on Tuesday 29 July.
Mr Neville considered himself local traffic – as directed by the signs. He did not realise as he went along the A23 that entering St George’s Place from Marlborough Place would result in him passing through the bus gate.
To avoid the bus gate, he learnt later, he would have had to go up Church Street, along a side road and back down North Road, rather than drive along Marlborough Place.
He said: “The road markings are illegible. Signs are facing the wrong way. And there was no way directly telling me how to get through Marlborough Place to where I was making the pick up and delivery of 75kg drums to a local person who lived there after we did a charity gig for Lewes council.
“I paid these fines so as not to get more fines. I also want to take this to an independent tribunal.”
Mr Neville paid the fines after an initial appeal to Brighton and Hove City Council and then went back to walk around the Valley Gardens area to establish which way he should have gone to prevent the penalty charge notices.
He said: “Upon approaching Church Street junction, I looked at the sign which says access only. Before my journey I looked at the legalities and justification and reasons for which I could turn down this road.
“As I went down the road (Marlborough Place) the sign in front of me (camera enforcement) was invisible as I can now see it was turned away from the oncoming traffic.
“As I approached the alleged bus gate, the road markings in front of me were illegible on the road as it has not been maintained.”
Since the bus gates were introduced in 2021, thousands of drivers have passed through at Marlborough Place, St George’s Place, St Peter’s Place and York Place.
Last year, Marlborough Place had 13,940 cars pass through the bus gate, with the camera there catching more drivers than the other sites.
In the same year, 29,805 drivers passed through all four bus gates, down by just over a quarter from 41,707 in 2023.
In their first year of operation, in 2021, the bus gates generated £2.2 million in fines and snared 84,000 drivers.
Labour councillor Trevor Muten, the council’s cabinet member for transport and city infrastructure, said: “Our bus gates play an important part in keeping the city moving and encouraging people to make use of our fantastic local bus network when travelling to and from the city centre.
“While one piece of road marking is slightly worn and one sign damaged – and these are two things we will rectify – they aren’t the only indications to motorists they are approaching a bus gate.
“There are signs warning motorists there is a bus gate coming up and telling other traffic it must turn right. There are also signs on traffic lights and at the junction itself and bus gate is written clearly on the road.
“We do consider there to be adequate signage in place but residents are welcome to challenge any fine through the tribunal process and we will, of course, carefully review the adjudicator’s findings.”
Key point: For a bus gate to be lawful, it must be properly established under the relevant traffic law and clearly signed so that drivers are aware of the restriction. If signage is unclear or missing, drivers can often challenge penalties successfully.
Hmm, interesting comment.
If you look harder at the photo you will see on the traffic lights there is a clear sign showing a right arrow, a compulsory instruction. Just beyond that is another clear sign showing Buses and cycles.
On the approach to the lights though faded, it shows Other Traffic and arrow pointing right painted on the floor. And there are signs prior to that informing drivers of enforcement cameras.
If drivers can not SEE or do not understand basic Highway Code signs, they have no business driving.
The words ‘BUS GATE’, might be confusing for some, but surely ‘BUS’ might prompt the more intelligent to pay more attention and study the signs that are clearly posted.
Sadly, some drivers have difficulties seeing a bright yellow box that goes ‘flash flash’.
Driver needs to pay more attention instead of coming on here whining because he’s a incompetent driver.
It is a reasonable thing to say; however, this particular junction has been tested several times in court and deemed to have sufficient signage, and additional signage was added as well, above and beyond what was required. However, as you say, if the driver believes the signage and road markings were facing the wrong way or faded beyond the point of being unclear, then absolutely they should appeal.
There’s one sign that is out of position, but there’s plenty of others that are clear as a bell.
The paint work is faded, but the turn right arrow is clear enough, however, if that is covered by snow, or in this case faded, there’s always the sign on the traffic lights that clearly show a compulsory right turn. There’s no excuse and drivers really need to be paying more attention and up date their Sat navs.
Agreed.
If the pcns have been paid you cannot proceed to the Tribunal as you cannot pay and appeal
Yet heaven knows how many drivers manage to navigate their cars in the area yet don’t manange to get fined.
Some worn away paint and a bent out of place (wonder if that was done deliberatly) sign don’t negate the whole scheme
Hundreds pass through there without incident and there are loads of signs in the area so some faded paintwork and a bent sign is hardly a issue to moan about.
Driver lacks observations, there’s even a sign on the traffic lights ffs showing must go right.
He ignored the A23 direction sign outside the pavilion that indicated going up the Eastern side of Valley Gardens not the western side . He went through a junction where its stated at its approach on the road saying all traffic turn right and as a blue arrow one way sign pointing right
2 haha. My wife’s uncle got 28 in a few days.
There is no reason for this bus gate to exist other than deliberate council profiteering and to ensure any visitor caught and fined by this nasty, unexpected bus gate on a main arterial road never bothers coming back again. It solves no pre-existing traffic issue. I have never paid these so-called ‘fines’ for going about my lawful business and never will. If we all showed some backbone, these anti-resident schemes would never get off the ground.
I highly doubt you’ve ignored multiple fines, James. Nor would a sensible person be advocating or boasting about it either.
Stop it Benji
Get some help
Your harassing every Brighton and hove news reader .
Your on every post
Every topic
No.
You should stop. You clearly have an agenda. Your comments are neither measured nor objective. You always side with the council or their representatives whilst masquerading as a neutral reader. It is clear the intention of your comments is to demonstrate the council’s position on all matters as being reasonable however, the somewhat surreptitious manner you go about this will almost certainly have the opposite effect. It is unfortunate that you cannot see this.
Apart from the times that I don’t support them, but let’s ignore those, because it undermines your opinion completely. I’ve had this conversation with you several times before. I comment on issues where I have knowledge or interest, as most readers do, particularly when someone makes an easily rebutted comment because it’s not based on fact, logic, or reality – Rubert above has had a vendetta since his comment was soundly corrected.
I’ve seen you be better than that, Atticus. So, in answer to your suggestion, it is the same: “No.”
You almost invariably support them. To suggest otherwise is absurd. There is no undermining, but merely confirmation of your hubris. The latter is nothing new.
The language you use toward others in your comments is like that of a Dickensian school master, another of your laughable and deeply unattractive traits. It rarely demonstrates knowledge and facts but merely your flagrantly nuanced opinions.
And to correct you; it is questions which are answered, not suggestions.
Lastly, you should not deceive yourself by thinking readers view you in a positive light as a result of your combative, obdurate rhetoric. They don’t. They likely never will.
I am not a friend of Benjamin and disagree with him on plenty of subjects but on this issue he certainly posts with reason and accuracy.
So what your saying is why did we ever change it from the old traffic system of the stiene in the first place 🙄 I don’t rate the council in Brighton and Hove, and I’m very skeptical about the current stage of this stiene renovation at the pier roundabout but the plans and improvements so far to the rest of the stiene have made a massive change for the better. To backtrack to the old system of traffic flow would be stupid. If you can’t read the road signs and don’t know highway code, go redo you test instead of complaining about fines. It’s not a resident trap, it’s a way to make public transport more accessible and efficient without impacting on traffic flowing through the city.
That junction was pretty abysmal before it was redone. Do you remember it?
The bus gate was put in to replace the former dedicated BUS LANES that were removed to create more space for the gardens. They’ve taken out running lanes so the area has become a Bus Gate at certain points as ordinary traffic will need access to roads and side streets.
This scheme has achieved nothing except introduce traffic problems around St Peters place that wasn’t there before, the same problem will happen when VG3 is completed.
The idea, is to make traffic worse so the council can show we need a congestion charge introduced.
Its not the visitors that get caught, they follow the signs and use the Eastern side , its the locals who think it dosent apply to them
If the signs were made clearer or more legible then BHCC income would surely drop. Wheres their sport or fun in that ?
Ironic you say that, because additional signs were added to make it clearer several years ago in response to that criticism. Every once in a while, we get a report on someone who is disgruntled at their lack of observation, and we have a similar conversation about it.
So pleased I don’t drive anymore, far too stressful. Happy bus and train user.
More vile anti motorist schemes.
Hope he wins
When they first implemented this there was a big sign. Then I guess they realised it was hitting their profits so they removed it
A deliberate trap to catch day trippers following their sat nav, absolute disgrace.
Of course, the challenge I’d gently say there is that you shouldn’t be relying on your Sat Nav in that way, nor are you taught to do so. There was a story a few years back about a Sat Nav that led people into a river. Quite a few vehicles had to be rescued from said river.
its not the day trippers its the locals who ignore the signs thinking its not for them
UK local authorities have seen by Donald Trump that they can do whatever the hell they like with total impunity!
And the best way of extorting money from people is the usual method of fining drivers for what will be next, driving over a manhole cover or driving a car under influence of sucking a Malteaser!
I kid you not!
It’s coming!
We are heading rapidly to hell in a handbasket because the conspiracy is to make people think Reform would be better than the other Parties, when it will clearly be, much much worse from the charlatan Farage; a pathetic mini Trump who wants all safe guards of working people’s human rights removed such as the ECHR and regulations to stop financial fraud and the polluting of the air that we breathe and the water that we drink!
It’s already happening with the Water companies! They work for profit, not providing a service that’s safe!
You can start with kissing goodbye to the NHS as Farage himself said!
This is the reality of life in Britain in 2025!
Vote Conservative and they will make your life really hell, a Party that gave the British people the biggest fall in living standards for 200 years! Many of those Conservative MP’s responsible have now joined the New extreme right wing faction of the Conservative Party: Nigel Farages ‘Reform’ Party!
Vote Labour, a Party that now thinks it has to emulate the Conservative Party to get elected!
Vote Lib Dems, and as we saw with their ‘Coalition’ government, they too turned Conservative!
Or Vote Reform and you’ll enter the gates of hell itself with the March of Fascism: Project 2025 (UK).
That’s the choice the British have now!
NONE!
I’ll stop voting then you say!
And once again, the right wing get elected again on a voters turn out of 20%!
We are trully doomed!
And we did it to ourselves because we would not say to the political class that’s Labour/Conservative/Lib Dems and Reform, that we’re as mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!
The political class forgot a long time ago that they are meant to be our Representatives in Parliament and not our masters!
We could vote Green? But they too will have to be controlled by the bureaucrats of Whitehall and the banking sector who destroy the people they’ll see as their enemy!
Our only option is winning the lottery and emigrating to some island paradise somewhere!
It may be 180 million to one chance of winning, but that’s still better odds than any politician ever doing ANYTHING for the working people!
That’s unless the lottery isn’t rigged against us too?
Fortunately we here in the UK have things called Road Traffic Acts, laws and regulations that have to be followed and rules laid down by the DoT, so Councils can not just do what ever they like.
In this case the area is well sign posted so it is driver error, if they failed to observe the clear signs that’s their own fault and nobody else’s.
Politics is always controversial, they sell and promise you the world and deliver tokens in exchange, it’s nothing new.
I think you have a bit too much time on your hands.
St George Place bus gate is joke. You can turn left into St George’s place from the bottom of North road yet you get a PCN if go straight ahead into St George’s place from Marlborough place just to go up Gloucester Street/Trafalgar Street.
Thank you Robert that is my point exactly! Which I had to find out post the event on foot , at what point did local traffic turn in to other traffic, excuses the pun!
Should have gone to Specsavers!
The Greens the gift that keeps on giving