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Sandwell is 'best borough in UK' for winning bus lane appeals

Drivers fined for using bus lanes have the best chance of winning an appeal in Sandwell, research has found.

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Freedom of Information requests to councils by van hire business Northgate found that drivers punished for using bus lanes have the best chance of revoking them in the Sandwell borough.

Northgate wanted to uncover just how many fines individual councils are handing out, how many appeals are made and the percentage rate of appeals won.

It made requests to more than 300 councils across the UK, asking for information on how many bus lane fines they had given out between June 2017 – December 2018, the total income from the penalty charge notice, how many fines were contested and how many were revoked.

In Sandwell there were 173 successful appeals out of 201 – an 86 per cent success rate.

Of an average 3,852 fines handed out per month in Wolverhampton, only eight appeals were made, but six were rescinded upon review – 74 per cent.

The average income from penalty charge notices in the city was £113,714 a month and in Sandwell, where there were 1,807 notices, it was £51,038.

Staffordshire County Council averaged 739 notices a month but did not supply any other figures.

Manchester City Council took on average £1,037,764 per month in bus lane fines. It raked in a massive £2,647,666 during January 2018, the most out of all the councils featured.

Wolverhampton Council came second, earning £235,679 in July 2017.