Wolverhampton motorists fined nearly £3 million in two years

The city council dished out more than 100,000 penalty charge notices in 2015-16 and 2016-17 for 'moving traffic offences'.

These fines - for offences including driving in bus lanes, entering yellow hatched areas, or making illegal u-turns - earned the authority a total of £2,887,712 in just two years.

Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information request show the council pocketed £1,141,332 in 2015-16 and £1,746,380 in 2016-17.

In 2015-16, council bosses handed out 57,687 PCNs, rising to 64,715 in 2016-17.

Of that number, 45,768 and 64,656 were upheld after appeals and representations by motorists.

Councillor Milkinder Jaspal, cabinet member for governance, said the council had no choice but to enforce the rules in order to educate motorists.

He said: "The rules are quite clear and they are there for a reason, and there is a safety aspect to that.

"Obviously if people ignore them that is at their cost.

"People need to take a step back and take responsibility for their own actions.

"The bus lane fines are only charged for people who are there for a considerable amount of time, for example.

"People have got to learn these lessons, if they want safer roads. Enforcement needs to take place, we have got no choice.

"We have gone past simple education, I think people will only take action and change their behaviour when they have to pay out of their own pockets."

Earlier this year, the Express & Star revealed how back-to-back bus lanes cameras in Victoria Square in Wolverhampton city centre, monitoring Pipers Row and Lichfield Street, were the second most lucrative in the country.

In 2015-16 the cameras caught out 24,979 people, even though they only became operational on November 30, 2015.

This worked out at more than 200 people a day.

Environment chief Councillor Steve Evans, said the scale of those fines was a result of motorists flouting the law.

But changes to how drivers access the city's railway station is likely to have led to a drop-off in the number of drivers caught, he added.

Councillor Evans said at the time: "Drivers are not allowed in bus lanes – it is against the law and if people choose to break the law they get fined.

"We expect the number of contraventions to fall at this location as since January access to the city's railway station has changed meaning this bus lane no longer provides a short cut."