How bus lane fines work
Councils (and TfL in London) enforce bus lanes with fixed cameras. The registered keeper receives a PCN by post, usually with a photo. As with parking PCNs, paying within the discount window (14 days in most areas, 21 for many camera-issued notices — check yours) halves the charge, and you have 28 days to pay or challenge. The appeal route is the same free, staged process: representations to the issuer, then the independent tribunal if rejected.
Always ask for the footage. You’re entitled to see the evidence — the full video, not just a still. Councils sometimes cancel rather than produce footage that doesn’t clearly show a contravention.
The grounds that win
- Unclear signs or worn road markings. A bus lane must be indicated by compliant signs at its start and at intervals, plus road markings. Faded paint, foliage over signs, or a missing hours plate can all sink the PCN. Go back and photograph the approach exactly as a driver sees it.
- You were forced in. Entering to pass an obstruction, because of roadworks or an accident, or to let an emergency vehicle through is a genuine defence — especially if the footage shows it.
- Brief, minimal entry. Clipping the lane for a moment while turning or merging is regularly cancelled on appeal, particularly where the lane entry point is poorly marked.
- Outside the hours of operation. Many bus lanes only operate at peak times. If the sign shows restricted hours and you drove there outside them, no contravention occurred.
- Not your vehicle. Misread plates and cloned plates happen. If the vehicle in the photo isn’t yours — or yours was demonstrably elsewhere — say so and ask for the full footage.
- Permitted vehicle. Taxis, motorbikes and cycles are allowed in many (not all) bus lanes — the sign lists exactly who may use it.
The process
- Step 1: make representations to the council or TfL before the deadline on the notice (online form or post). Attach your photos and describe the circumstances precisely — date, time, lane, direction.
- Step 2: if you get a Notice of Rejection, appeal free to the independent tribunal named in it (London Tribunals for London, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal elsewhere). Adjudicators look hard at signage compliance — it’s the most common reason bus lane PCNs fail.