Drivers fined in Coventry bus gate lose fight over ‘unclear’ signs

Drivers who are being fined for entering a Coventry bus gate have lost their battle over ‘unclear’ road signs.

More than 400 cars a day are being issued with penalty notices after unwittingly going into a bus gate in Greyfriars Road in the city centre. Motorists say the bus gate signage is confusing and does not give a clear ‘no entry’ message.

But Coventry City Council says no appeals lodged against the fines have been successful and insists that signs and road markings “fully comply” with regulations set by the Department of Transport.

It was responding to a petition demanding the council make the bus gate rules much clearer.

Campaigners say there are no clearly visible instructions to show this is a bus gate and that cars should not enter or go any further than the old IKEA building. More conspicuous signs and road markings are needed, they argue.

The petition states: “It is unfair to all users that they are fined for entering a space that is not clearly labelled that they should not be in.

“The amount of people that have been caught out at this particular section shows that there is definitely an issue here that the council is not addressing, likely because the revenue it’s generating is high, and looking at the state of the roads around Coventry it’s not getting put back into the infrastructure.”

The city council says the Greyfriars Road bus gate in Coventry came into effect on September 8, 2025. Active enforcement began on November 10, 2025.

The original city centre traffic management order says the bus gate prohibits vehicles other than buses, pedal cycles, hackney carriages and private hire

vehicles on the section of Greyfriars Road between the Warwick Road island and the Sheriffs Orchard side-road just before Greyfriars apartment complex.

Other vehicles entering the bus gate face a £70 penalty charge notice which is reduced by half to £35 if paid within 21 days of when it was issued. If the fine remains unpaid within 28 days, it’s increased to £105.

At a meeting of the Cabinet member for City Services, officers said all existing signage and road markings on Greyfriars Road complied with traffic signs regulations and directions set by the Department of Transport.

The council said: “The adequacy and clarity of the signage at this location have been assessed through the independent adjudication process administered by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which considers motorists’ appeals against penalty charge notices issued by local authorities.

“To date, all appeals submitted to the tribunal in respect of penalties issued at this location have been unsuccessful. This demonstrates that the adjudicator is satisfied that motorists are provided with sufficient advance warning of the restriction through clear and compliant mandatory signage and carriageway markings.

“These measures are further supported by yellow-backed information boards, which serve to alert drivers and direct them towards appropriate alternative routes.”

The council added that although the current layout meets all legal requirements, it was committed to continuous improvement and as part of a city centre cycleway scheme, it will be ‘refining’ road markings and ensuring temporary signs are made permanent.

Officers added that the main purpose of bus lane enforcement is to manage traffic flow and ensure the reliability of public transport. The council said any income generated from penalty notices is legally ringfenced under the Traffic Management Act and must be reinvested into the city’s transport infrastructure, including road maintenance and public transport improvements across Coventry.

The Coventry Telegraph reported in December 2025 that nearly 12,000 fines had been issued to drivers entering the bus gate, with £67,338 paid to Coventry City Council in fines at that point. On average, more than 440 drivers every day are caught out, the equivalent of 18 every hour, earning the council over £2,400 a day.

We have approached the council for up-to-date figures on how many penalty notices have been issued.

What is a bus gate?

A bus gate is a stretch of regular road where cars aren’t allowed at all. Any motorist going into a bus gate will be recorded on a traffic camera, triggering a fine to be sent through the post based on automatic number plate recognition.

A bus lane is a separate lane dedicated to buses that runs alongside normal traffic lanes. It often operates within specified hours linked to the bus timetable and cars can usually go into the bus lane outside these hours. But note that Coventry City Council says its bus lanes operate 24/7 so these are also a total no-go for car drivers.

The number of questions asked on online forums and in social media groups shows many people are unaware of the meanings and differences.

Signs and markings indicate the start and end of bus gates and bus lanes as well as any specific hours of operation. If no times are stated, they run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The signs in Greyfriars Road show a blue circle with symbols of a bus and bicycle and the word ‘taxi’ next to a white box saying ‘and authorised vehicles’ (which would include emergency services).

Coventry has bus gates in Gosford Street, Greyfriars Road, Hales Street junction with the Burges, Sky Blue Way, Stoney Road, Tile Hill Lane and Whittle Arch.

What we thought when we went to check it out

The Local Democracy Reporting Service went to Greyfriars Road to look at the signs and see how many vehicles were driving into the bus gate, unaware of its existence or confused by the signage.

Within the space of just five minutes taking photos of the signs, we counted six cars driving through the bus gate. Though traffic may be quieter at night, that would add up to 72 cars an hour, four times as many as the December 2025 figures suggested.

There are roadside signs and a large painted road marking saying ‘Bus Gate.’ While the road marking is visible, some may not know what encountering a bus gate actually means for their journey.

The symbols on the signs are small and high up on poles. The message not to enter the lane isn’t as clearly and simply stated as it could be, with no immediately understandable warning.

One of the signs is placed parallel to the kerb, rather than facing traffic, so it can’t be seen at all by oncoming drivers. Another is down a side-street.

People in moving vehicles have only a few seconds to peer into the distance at symbols high up on a roadside post, or crane their necks upwards as they get closer to figure out what it means before they’ve actually ended up going past it.

As there is no physical barrier, we weren’t 100 per cent sure where the bus gate actually started and ended.

But it seems to take effect further down than Sheriffs Orchard, the point named in the original traffic order, and looks like it begins at an unnamed small side-street alongside a residential block, as that’s where two signs with a black dividing line down the middle were placed on opposite sides of the road.

It’s also not made entirely clear that it applies to both sides of the road or what drivers are expected to do next if they realise they’ve reached the bus gate from the Queen Victoria Road direction and shouldn’t proceed any further. A U-turn to go back the same way is the only realistic option.

Even though the signage is compliant with regulations, it’s easy to see why motorists fall foul of these traffic rules. At night the issue would be worse as the signs aren’t lit. We’d argue that a large digital display sign with illuminated text stating ‘Bus Lane: No Entry From This Point’ may be a better option.