22,000 motorists still caught by Preston bus gate a year after launch
Drivers fined more than £665,000 in six months despite long-running enforcement
Motorists were caught out more than 22,000 times by a controversial ‘bus gate’ in Preston in the last six months – in spite of it now having been in operation for more than a year.
The bus-only zone on Corporation Street, near the city centre, was installed in May 2024 – barring most through-traffic from travelling between Heatley Street and Marsh Lane.
However, Lancashire County Council allowed a grace period before it started issuing fines for breaching the new rule – with penalty charge notices (PCNs) only being dished out from late June that year.
But data obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) shows that, 12 months after those tickets first started landing on doormats, an average of almost 900 unlawful trips a week are still being made along the short stretch of road – by vehicles other than the buses, Hackney taxis and bicycles that are authorised to do so.
Between 15th June and 22nd December, 22,424 PCNs were issued to those caught flouting the regulation – generating £665,277 for the county council’s coffers.
The rate of rule-breaking has slowed significantly since enforcement first began – when almost £1m was racked up in fines in the three months after the day the cameras went live.
However, the latest figures show that failure to adhere to the rule is still costing motorists more than £100,000 a month, on average.
The authority previously said – in a response to a Freedom of Information request made by Blog Preston – that £2.68m worth of PCNs had been generated by the Corporation Street bus gate in the 12 months to 16th June, 2025.
That means that drivers have now fallen foul of the cameras more than 100,000 times since they were switched on – the data given to the LDRS did show how many motorists have been caught more than once – yielding £3.35m in fines.
Each PCN costs £70, although that is halved to £35 if paid within 21 days. Of those issued in the last six months, 16,866 – or three quarters – were settled at the discounted rate.
Back In October, the majority of members of Preston City Council called for the bus gate to be suspended until a “full reassessment” of its impact was carried out – with the fines being branded a “stealth tax”.
Figures obtained by the LDRS show that overall income from bus lane and bus gate fines at the 19 such sites across the Lancashire County Council area – which excludes Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen – fell from £2.94m in 2024, when 81,417 PCNs were issued, to £2.24m up until mid-December this year, by which point 68,504 tickets had been handed out.
Although Lancashire County Council did not provide a breakdown of income by each location, it appears likely that a large proportion of the drop is due to the reduction in PCNs from Corporation Street compared to last year.
A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) play an important role in keeping our roads safe and traffic moving. While they do generate income, their primary purpose is to deter unsafe or unauthorised behaviour that can cause delays or put others at risk.
“Any income received is reinvested into Lancashire’s highways network – funding maintenance, safety improvements, and measures that benefit all road users.
“We encourage drivers to plan ahead, observe signs and markings, and follow the Highway Code. Good driving habits help reduce congestion, improve public transport reliability, and make our roads safer for everyone.”