Users of the bus gate in the centre of Bath who incorrectly received a penalty ticket due to a timing error in the system will have them cancelled and receive refunds, B&NES Council has confirmed.
The bus gate at the bottom of New Bond Street | Image © Google 2019
Motorists who went through the New Bond Street and High Street bus gate shortly after 6pm on Thursday 19th September were incorrectly issued penalty notices due to a timing error in the software used to manage the system.
Local resident Harriet Oldridge said her husband received two tickets for driving through the bus gate on the evening of 19th September.
Mrs Oldridge said: “It has caused a lot of stress and anger. I want to make sure everyone who has paid the fine gets reimbursed; they all get apologies and we are told how it happened and how Parking Services will reduce the chance of this happening again.”
A number of people took to Facebook to warn others about the issue and said it looked as if the timing on the system was an hour out.
Councillor Joanna Wright, joint cabinet member for Transport Services, said: “We tested our systems after we had a high number of calls from motorists on 19 September about bus gate tickets, and as part of our standard procedures, we invited anyone who believed they had been incorrectly issued with a charge to submit an appeal to us.
“We also asked our software supplier to investigate the issue. They have told us that an unforeseen software error within the operating system caused some incorrect timings.
“Changes to the system have now been made so that this cannot happen again and checks have been undertaken to ensure there were no other instances.
“Anyone affected by this issue has had their ticket cancelled. We will contact those affected by post this week to confirm this.
“All payments will be refunded as soon as possible.
“We would like to apologise for any distress or inconvenience caused by the software error.”
The bus gate on the High Street and at the bottom of New Bond Street is operational between 10am – 6pm every day.
